Africa Land Policy Crossroads: How ALPC is Driving the Continent's Land Policy Transformation

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – When African leaders endorsed the Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Sirte, Libya, in 2009, they set in motion a continent-wide commitment to tackle one of the most persistent obstacles to growth: the equitable, transparent and sustainable governance of land.

Participants attend a plenary session at the 2023 Africa Land Policy Conference. The biennial event seeks to highlight efforts in promoting equitable, transparent and sustainable land governance as African states rethink land policy in response to rising development demands across the continent. (Photo: UNECA)

Sixteen years later, that pledge has evolved into a complex but increasingly coherent ecosystem of frameworks and principles that now guide how African states rethink land governance in the face of rapid economic and demographic change.

At the center of this effort is the Africa Land Policy Center (ALPC), led by economist and policy strategist Dr. Joan Kagwanja, whose work is quietly shaping the continent’s next generation of land policies.

A web of frameworks

The land policy architecture in Africa today is anchored by the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa (F&G), developed in 2010 by the African Union Commission, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank. The F&G remains the authoritative continental reference for governments designing or revising national land policy.

This foundation is reinforced by the Guiding Principles on Large-Scale Land-Based Investments, issued in 2014, which outline how governments can manage foreign and domestic investment in ways that safeguard local communities and food security.

Together, these AU-driven frameworks provide African states with tools to balance competing pressures: the need for capital and infrastructure on one hand, and the protection of customary and communal rights on the other.

Beyond the AU, the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGTs), endorsed by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization in 2012, have become a global reference point.

The VGGTs, while not binding, have been woven into African land reform processes as normative guardrails. Similarly, the Framework for Effective Land Administration (FELA), adopted under the UN Global Geospatial Information Management initiative, provides technical guidance on building modern, data-driven land administration systems.

At the regional level, blocs such as the East African Community and ECOWAS have begun issuing their own guidelines, helping member states localize continental principles to subregional realities.

Why this matters now

These frameworks do not operate in isolation. They speak to each other in ways that increasingly align African priorities with global standards. The AU’s Land Governance Strategy, adopted in 2021, urges states to domesticate the F&G while linking reforms to the African Continental Free Trade Area, food security, and climate resilience.

In practice, this means that a land policy revision in Sierra Leone, or a tenure regularization program in Rwanda, is not only guided by AU frameworks but also measured against global indicators such as SDG 1.4.2, which tracks secure land rights.

Experts say this layering creates synergy. “It ensures that Africa is not reinventing the wheel,” one Addis Ababa-based land specialist explained. “Instead, it adapts universal norms to African realities while retaining political ownership through the AU.”

From frameworks to fieldwork

The impact of this ecosystem is already visible. Sierra Leone’s 2022 Customary Land Rights Act, widely hailed as a milestone, enshrines equal rights for women and requires free, prior and informed consent for land deals – principles drawn directly from the VGGTs and AU guidelines.

Rwanda’s nationwide land tenure regularization program, one of the most ambitious in the developing world, drew on the AU’s F&G to secure millions of parcels. In Namibia, the Flexible Land Tenure System is creating affordable, bankable titles for informal settlers, aligning with FELA’s push for fit-for-purpose digital systems.

These examples illustrate how African countries are leveraging multiple layers of guidance: AU-led frameworks for political legitimacy, global standards for credibility and benchmarking, and regional tools for peer learning and coordination.

ALPC’s leadership role

If the frameworks are the skeleton, the ALPC is the beating heart. Established to operationalize the AU Declaration and F&G, the center provides technical assistance, hosts policy dialogues and works through the Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA), a consortium of more than 70 universities.

Dr. Joan Kagwanja, head of the Africa Land Policy Center, is leading efforts to align continental and global frameworks that shape Africa’s next generation of land policies. (Photo: UNECA)

Under Dr. Kagwanja’s leadership, ALPC has shifted focus from drafting frameworks to enabling implementation. Recent priorities include finalizing guidelines for women’s land tenure security, advancing youth engagement in land governance, and helping governments integrate land rights into climate action and restoration initiatives such as the Great Green Wall.

In November 2023, the Conference on Land Policy in Africa highlighted ALPC’s role in linking land governance to broader continental agendas. “You cannot industrialize, trade or adapt to climate change without addressing land governance,” Kagwanja told delegates. Her message underscored why the center’s leadership is critical at this moment of rapid change.

A critical juncture

The urgency is clear. Africa’s population is projected to double by 2050, with cities absorbing much of the growth. Urban expansion, agricultural investment, renewable energy projects and infrastructure corridors all depend on clear land rights. Yet land conflicts, overlapping tenure systems and gender inequities remain stubborn challenges.

Without effective land governance, experts warn, economic growth risks deepening inequality and fueling disputes. With it, countries can unlock investment, empower women and youth, and better position themselves in global value chains.

That is why ALPC’s steady hand is so important. By steering states through the thicket of frameworks and providing Africa-centered solutions, the center is not only advancing tenure security but also shaping how emerging African economies will grow.

Looking ahead

As governments continue to update national land policies, the expectation is that they will rely even more heavily on the ecosystem now in place: AU frameworks for direction, global guidelines for norms, regional bodies for adaptation, and ALPC for leadership.

“The scaffolding is there,” said one West African policy adviser. “What matters now is the political will and the capacity to use it. That is where ALPC’s work in training, research and dialogue becomes indispensable.”

For Dr. Kagwanja, the task is both urgent and generational. As she told a recent gathering in Addis Ababa: “Land is the foundation of Africa’s future. Getting governance right is not optional – it is the pathway to prosperity.”