(Ecofin Agency) - In a press box released on the Senegalese news website Ndarinfo, lawyer and teaching-researcher Ngouye Faye pleaded for the creation of a land management agency in Senegal. A solution which should allow the government to better tackle the land governance issue, and enable populations better secure their properties.

“Land is becoming more and more of a good in Senegal and local modes of access to this resource have today, significantly changed. This is quite grave given that most land-related transactions are conducted in a private framework. These practices do not always insure the deals’ stability, nor do they always prevent conflicts. They are the proof of an urgent need to formalize and secure land transactions,” the lawyer explained. 

Hence, for a better handling of the land issue in Senegal, M. Faye recommends the creation of a national land agency which will among others be in charge of “implementing State’s policies, strategies and programmes related to land; insuring the implementation of land management related procedures; confirming land rights and issuing land deeds; establishing a national system to manage land data, a system which would be transparent, accessible, reliable and up-to-date; of making available, by every way possible, including modern ways, information present in land registries to any interested private party; of helping the State and local authorities in their expropriation operations and exercise their preemption rights; supporting local authorities in regards to land documentation and management of property assets”.  

To back his recommendation, he cites Benin and Côte d’Ivoire whose land agencies are already proving themselves.