Togo : Property transfer delay exceeds expectations for first quarter, stands below eight days

Investments
Tuesday, 22 May 2018 16:03
Togo : Property transfer delay exceeds expectations for first quarter, stands below eight days

(Togo First) - Property transfer delay was at eight days average over the first quarter of 2018. This is against 20 days a year earlier. The reduction results from efforts made by Togolese authorities to improve business climate and attract more private investments.

In detail, this delay was at 9, 7 and 10 days in January, February and March 2018 respectively. The average for the period exceeds the expectation of the Revenue Office (OTR), knowingly 15 days for the whole year. At this pace, Togo could be close to Rwanda which is the leader in regard to property transfer delay, in Africa, with a duration of 7 days.

As mentioned earlier, the remarkable performances are attributable to the fact that the former directorate of the land and cadastral affairs (DADC) got additional equipment and staff, paired with the dematerialization of processes, and the creation of a property transfer bureau (to speed up issuance of related titles).

Besides that, many tax incentives have also been implemented since the beginning of 2018, such as: property registration fees and stamp duties were reduced by 3%, down to 6.3% in accordance with the government’s 2018 finance bill.

Moreover, to boost transparency, data related to land titles and cadastral map were made freely accessible to all, on the website of the DADC which is now attached to the OTR.

Togo, let’s recall, had dematerialized 46,342 land deeds at the end of March 2018. This out of a total of 46,833 deeds issued by then.

This a major achievement for the country’s land sector which could become one of the best performance in sub-Saharan Africa, considering that it will benefit from the MCA’s threshold program recently approved, and the imminent passing of a new land code by parliament.

Back to property transfer delay, according to the Doing Business, it assesses time needed by a firm or person to buy a property from a third party (seller) and transfer this property under its own name, as it could subsequently use it as guarantee to secure loans from lenders or exploit it in simple terms.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

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