Property
All land is state-owned under the 1994 Land Proclamation; holders receive usufruct
Land Proclamation 58/1994 vested all land in the state, replacing customary village tenure with allocated usufruct rights. Implementation has been uneven and demobilised service members were a priority allocation category.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — National. The Land Commission and regional administrations allocate usufruct rights.
Governing law
- Land Proclamation 58/1994
- Civil Code of Eritrea, Proclamation 165/2015 — property provisions
- Proclamation 59/1994 on expropriation for development
In practice
The 1994 Proclamation was a deliberate break with the customary systems — diesa village rotation and tselmi lineage tenure — that had governed highland agriculture for centuries, replacing them with state ownership and individual usufruct allocated by administrative decision. The stated aims were to end fragmentation and to provide for demobilised fighters. Implementation has been partial and uneven across regions, and in many areas customary practice continued alongside or instead of the statutory scheme, so the position on the ground frequently differs from the proclamation. Usufruct is heritable but not saleable, which limits land as collateral and constrains any mortgage market. Urban housing allocation and the treatment of property of Eritreans abroad have both been contentious. There is no accessible register or case law to verify current practice.