Property
Universal land registration completed, with all land leasehold from the state
The 2013 land law vests land in the state, with private holders having emphyteutic leases of up to 99 years. Rwanda completed a nationwide systematic land registration programme between 2009 and 2013, registering over ten million parcels — the first African state to achieve near-universal coverage.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The Rwanda Land Management and Use Authority registers; abunzi mediators and the courts resolve disputes.
- Deadline — Emphyteutic lease: up to 99 years, renewable
- Deadline — Expropriation compensation: paid within 120 days of valuation approval
- Deadline — Transfer: registered with the Rwanda Land Management and Use Authority
Governing law
- Law n° 43/2013 governing land in Rwanda
- Law n° 32/2015 relating to expropriation in the public interest
- Ministerial orders on land use consolidation
In practice
The systematic land registration programme is Rwanda's most cited legal-administrative achievement: using local adjudication committees and low-cost demarcation, it registered essentially all land in the country in four years and issued titles recording spousal co-ownership by default, which substantially strengthened women's land rights in practice rather than only on paper.