The government of Togo has opened a single desk to handle land-related operations. The decree creating this desk was adopted last Wednesday in a council of ministers.

The Single Land Desk (GFU in French) as it is named “aims at simplifying and accelerating procedures to land deeds.” It regroups representatives from all administrations involved in processes of submission and collection of documentation needed to register properties.  

According to the government, this entity “will, just like the Center for Business Formalities (CFE), help cut costs and reduce risks related to land operations.”

The new reform follows another in December 2018 to ease property transfer by merging the following processes: case study, liquidation and payment of registration fees, and land conservation.

In Togo, notaries reviewed their fees for direct property sales and property transfers. This was decided during the extraordinary general assembly of notaries held last Jan. 31, in Lomé.

The new fees were set based on the property’s value, instead of degressive rates used previously.

“In the past, this rate was degressive and for properties worth more than sixteen to twenty million CFA francs (World Bank study), the fee perceived was about CFA350,000, against 250,000 currently),” said Sandra Johnson, State secretary and Coordinator of the Business Climate Cell (CCA).

From now on, notaries’ charges stand at CFA100,000 for properties  worth less than CFA1 million, CFA150,000 for properties worth between one to five million. For properties worth between five to ten million, notaries will charge CFA200,000 and CFA250,000 for properties worth between 10 to 22.5 million.

“For sales or transfers of property valued at more than 22.5 million, notaries’ charges remain the same as before,”  the new provision indicates.