World Bank gives Ghana $35M to help solve land crisis

The World Bank has approved a $35 million International Development Association (IDA) fund to help in the country’s efforts in improving services and efficiency at the Lands Commission.

Making a statement on the gesture, the World Bank Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Henry Kerali said, “both the World Bank and the Government recognize that LAP2 has more to do to really impact the lives of ordinary Ghanaians, which is the reason for continuing with this additional financing to complete the LAP2 agenda, so citizens can see a real impact.”

“Ghanaians will receive better and faster services from both the Lands Commission and the Customary Land Secretariats and have more access to property and land information,” he added.

This additional funding for the second phase of the Ghana Land Administration project (LAP2) will help improve the effectiveness of the Customary Land Secretariats.

The Customary Land Secretariats is an important aspect of land governance in Ghana where an estimated 80 per cent of landholders are under the customary law.

The additional financing is expected to help complete the base map for Ghana with aerial photography for most of the country and support the rollout of the Ghana Enterprise Land Information System (GELIS) with the additional digitization of land records.

The closing date of the project has now been extended to December 31, 2021.

Meanwhile the Senior Land Administration Specialist and Task Team Leader, Victoria Stanley said, “this will ensure full completion of the LAP2 agenda to consolidate and strengthen Ghana’s land administration and management systems for efficient land services delivery.”