Africa Land Policy Conference

In addition to being a natural resource itself, land is the basis on which other extractives and natural resources transactions are founded, including mining, oil and gas, agriculture and even infrastructure projects. Sound land policies and laws are therefore a sine qua non for ensuring sustainable development as they address relevant issues such as governance, environmental, social, and economic issues and enhance fairness and durability of land-based project contracts. In 2019, the ALSF supported the African Natural Resources Centre (ANRC), the United Nations Economic Commission on Africa (UNECA) and the African Union Commission (AUC) in their biennial conference on land policy in Africa by funding research and development of papers on land policy and governance. The papers constitute knowledge products that will contribute to development of sound laws and policies as well as to the training of lawyers for better management of land issues, improvement in the quality of investments, fairer commercial negotiations, mitigation of risks of disputes, balanced agreements and outcomes for African Governments. Ultimately, this will enhance the quality of projects supported by the Facility. The papers supported by the Facility were among others presented at a conference held in Abidjan in November on the theme “Winning the fight against Corruption in the Land Sector: Sustainable Pathway for Africa’s Transformation”. This project was undertaken within the framework of broader collaboration between the ALSF and ANRC to extend their collective reach and optimise the impact of their interventions.