Land ownership in South Africa is a complex topic, with dozens of laws regulating the purchase, redistribution, and tenure of land, as well as the property rights of landowners. These laws date back decades, through pre- and post-colonial apartheid eras, and they govern different spaces – urban and rural, commercial and residential, peri-urban and farming, and more.

Two comprehensive State of Land Information (SOLI) reports have been released, providing in-depth assessments of the land data and information ecosystems in Botswana and Zambia. These reports examine the availability of land information and evaluate its compliance with open data standards. The findings highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each country's land information management practices and offer insights for targeted interventions.

Just 38 indigenous communities out of 455 have received communal land titles since the government first made them available in 2009, with indigenous activists and rights groups bemoaning the notoriously slow process.

Supreme Court observed urgent need for legislation to resolve land acquisition disputes for public projects.

It is proposed in Uzbekistan to develop a draft law “On pastures” in a new edition and the procedure for granting pasture land plots for rent.

The standing committee on Environment, Food and Agriculture is currently working on five sets of bills on the Law of Land to submit to the plenary session of the State Great Khural. 

Dans sa thèse de doctorat soutenue le 10 décembre à Brazzaville sur le thème « La propriété foncière en République du Congo », Elie Jean-Pierre Nongou a proposé au législateur congolais de faire l’effort de légiférer à partir des réalités des fonctionnements sociaux et non à partir des concepts idéologiques désincarnés.

A new country portfolio unpacks the complexity of governing land in India.

Guinea-Bissau has been described as a country of “precarious complexity”. Home to more than 20 ethnic groupings Guinea-Bissau fought one of the longest wars on the African continent to end centuries of Portuguese control. It finally obtained independence in 1974. Since 1980 the history of Guinea-Bissau has been marked by multiple military coups and extreme fragility. This political instability has driven up poverty and stalled legal reforms to secure land rights. In 2008 the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime declared Guinea-Bissau to be Africa’s first ‘narco state’.  By 2019 Guinea-Bissau was the 12th poorest country in the world. It has also been identified as highly vulnerable to climate change with low lying coastal areas at risk from rising sea levels and flooding. 

After 14 years of advocacy, the DRC president finally signs new Indigenous peoples law. On Wednesday, the president of the DRC, Felix Antoine Tshisekedi, signed and promulgated the new law on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Indigenous Pygmy Peoples.

Law schools in Cauca, Colombia are partnering with USAID to promote courses on land and property administration to respond to a growing need in human resources and expertise in land issues.

A new State Lands Protection Bill propose to raise the maximum fine faced by offenders who encroach on or damage state land.