Togo’s ministry of Urbanism engages talks to promote new land reform
Monday, 30 July 2018 14:52 
(Togo First) - Last Friday, Togo’s ministry of Urbanism called a meeting to discuss ways to vulgarize the recently adopted law n°02018-005 on land code.
The meeting was themed “Implementing the land code law to make land-related transactions and investments safer”. On this occasion, the ministry told actors concerned, namely banks and investors, about the reform’s importance and interest.
Indeed, Fiatuwo Kwadjo Sessenou, minister of urbanism, said: “Land reform restores trust between customers and banks”. The new law plans for more modern legal and institutional framework to secure land.
Brief review of land reform
Under the reform, all land transactions are subjected to holding a title. This measure aims, as indicated earlier, to make the transactions safer. It also simplified procedures to secure land deed and put notaries in charge of land transactions.
Along the adoption of the new reform, the government established a single land desk and a national agency for land management. Decisions spurred by the fact that “land uncertainty is harmful to economic development”. Truly, investors are often hesitant when unsure of their ownership right regarding a specific project land.
However, now with the new reform, banks are prone to invest in the long-term, providing loans and mortgages, once the loan taker provides a land deed.
Let’s also recall that this reform is one of many initiated by the Business Climate Cell, to make Togo’s business environment more attractive. It opens the path for the MCC threshold program approved few months ago.
Séna Akoda
