Analysis of recent land acquisitions in Africa: an opportunity or threat in West Africa

Abstract

The report is to raise awareness on the holistic consequences of foreign land acquisitions in Africa, and emphasize the need for transparency and accountability in these transactions. Although the analysis focuses on the experience of selected countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), it raises fundamental issues relevant to many African countries as well as to other developing countries outside the continent. The report also identifies other cross-cutting issues and examines the implications of the transactions in terms of employment in the host country, infrastructure development, food markets and marketing, and other externalities. The Report consists of five main sections following this introduction, context setting and objectives. The First Section provides a typology of land acquisitions. The discussion in the next two sections explores the reasons behind the land acquisitions drawing on African experience as well as that from outside the continent. The experience of selected West African countries in land acquisitions is discussed in Section 4 to illustrate the spread of the phenomenon as well as the diversity of approaches, and Section 5 outlines the consequences of these land transactions on Africa and its population. The report concludes with a section on lessons learned and proposes a way forward for ECOWAS and Africa.