90% of Nigerian Land Undocumented, Locking Away $300bn in Dead Capital
Since the introduction of formal land registration in Nigeria in 1883, only 10 percent of the country’s land has been documented. This lack of documentation has resulted in an estimated $300 billion in dead capital, according to Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa.
Speaking at the Workshop on the National Land Registration and Documentation Programme in Abuja, Dangiwa highlighted the economic consequences of Nigeria’s slow and inefficient land registration process.
“Since the inception of formal land registration in Nigeria in 1883, the processes have been conducted under a non-compulsory sporadic system, which is slow, cumbersome, opaque, and expensive for the average landowner. It is no surprise, therefore, that less than 10 per cent of the entire land in our country is registered in 140 years,” he said.
Dead capital refers to assets, such as land, that cannot be used as collateral for loans or other economic activities due to a lack of legal documentation. Without proper land titles, landowners in Nigeria struggle to access credit, limiting their ability to invest in businesses and infrastructure.
Nigeria’s land tenure system, which includes both customary and statutory laws, has contributed to the low level of land registration. Many landowners operate under traditional arrangements without official titles, while bureaucratic hurdles and high costs associated with formal registration discourage documentation. These factors have hindered economic growth and development.
To address the problem, the federal government has announced plans to accelerate land registration through a partnership with the private sector. The initiative includes the launch of a national digital land information system, which will modernize land administration, increase formal transactions, and train registration officers.
“We aim to register, document, and title all land parcels to unlock Nigeria’s dead capital, empowering landowners to utilise their assets for economic growth,” Dangiwa stated.
The government is also seeking to implement a uniform framework for land administration across the country while respecting state-level jurisdictions. The minister emphasized that digitizing land administration presents significant investment opportunities, and public-private partnerships will be critical to the success of the initiative.
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Additionally, the World Bank has pledged its support for the programme, describing it as a necessary step toward economic transformation. Dr Michael Ilesanmi, a Senior Special Development Specialist at the World Bank, reaffirmed the institution’s commitment, stating that the initiative aligns with the bank’s vision of poverty eradication.
The government expects the reforms to increase formal land transactions from the current 10 percent to over 50 percent in the next decade, improve access to credit, and boost internally generated revenue for state governments.
Dangiwa assured stakeholders that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is committed to making the reforms a reality.
“With the support of the World Bank, we are on the cusp of making history in Nigeria,” he said.
