Land and Property

The Government and the Business community have been working together to develop a conducive environment for doing business in Zambia.

Some quarters of Central and Local Government have been very extravagant in allocating land to all description of investors, be it to local or foreign businesses. Huge tracts of land have been given out to people and businesses that have sat on these properties only to re-sell years later at astronomical prices, while local residents cannot access land for domestic and small scale development.

One therefore understands the current concern about the allocation of large portions of land to any investors.

A drive along the shores of Lake Kariba from Siavonga right down beyond Maamba, reveals that big chunks of land have been given to people outside the local communities. Many of these pieces of land have not seen a single piece of development in the form of buildings or any other infrastructure beyond a simple barbed wire perimeter fence. As the middle class grows in the country, no opportunities are available for one to build a holiday home or some small business premises along the lake as an investment in the tourism potential that exists in the country.

Some sensible planning initiative would have considered creating thousands of small plots along the lake shore with an all weather road that would facilitate development by both Zambians and foreign investors. This idea is not new and can be seen all over the world on lake shores, river banks, and coast lines. The immediate result of this equitable distribution of land is that economic activity is initiated when many people move in to build and develop as opposed to the ‘big investor’ syndrome that Africa and Zambia seem to suffer from. ZESCO would be able to make a business case for extension of the national grid to the developments in Siavonga and beyond. In addition, the ever growing transport services system would expand to enable every Zambian to travel to the area at a reasonable cost.

There is much to be said about planning for the future, and for our future generations, when land allocation and town and country planning is properly strategized.

The aggression and phobias currently growing in many developing countries can be avoided if citizens and residents can trust the authorities to protect the public interests, in as far as land allocation is concerned.

The view that land is vested in the State President on behalf of the people of Zambia is comforting, but the reality is that our 99 year leases from the Ministry of Lands are renewable, therefore in effect, alienating the land permanently to the lessee. For the sake of security of investment, this practical reality encourages investments into the country, and facilitates the placement of blocks and concrete on the ground.

Many of the problems associated with land allocation and use are generally caused by our own people in Local Government, in Central Government, and by all the shapes and sizes of Politicians. The challenge is to do some domestic housekeeping by ensuring that strategic land planning is engaged, processes and systems are strictly followed, and the removal of discretion on land allocation is immediately instituted.

Land is but one component in the investment and socio-economic development paradigm. The flip side of the coin is the issue of Property.

Property in respect to land includes the developments made on the land which constitutes buildings, machinery, and roads, amongst many other investments.

In Zambia, we have not clearly separated Land and Property, probably because in the recent past, a piece of land had developments that were exclusively attached to that piece of land. For example, a plot would have a house built on it and the two components were inextricably connected to each other.

However, today since the Privatisation Program, we have seen blocks of Flats and Apartments built on one piece of Land being sold to sitting tenants of each Flat. This meant that the Land title would be held by the group of twenty or thirty Flat owners who each held a Title Deed for their own individual Flats. Ironically, some Flat owners owned units on the third or fourth floor thus in effect suggesting that their property was actually suspended in the air! This makes it difficult for any kind of meaningful sub-division of the land, as property owners above the ground would not be able to claim a piece of land.

One of the answers to this dilemma is to provide for Sectional Title of property such as for Flats and Apartments on a common piece of Land. A cursory look at hundreds of cities around the world show how this is done in major office and residence blocks.

Our immediate refocus now is to recognise Land ownership as per the traditional Title Deed, but to also rapidly incorporate Property ownership which now becomes the twin sister of Land, and their relationship becomes both inclusive and exclusive, depending on the circumstances.

We note these developments in our various Show Grounds around the country, where the developments on land are owned by individual companies, whereas the Land is owned by the show society in question. Some new business initiatives include the development of Multi Facility Economic Zones (MFEZ’s) and other Economic Zones that are likely to follow this blue print of Property ownership alongside Land ownership.

These developments will challenge our banking and financial sectors to redraw their description of tradable and tangible assets to support loan processing and other business development financial services.

Interestingly, our current practice is to consider bare Land which has a Title deed as insufficient collateral in business transactions, while on the other hand, Property developments on land which in the case of a block of Flats has no Title deed, is looked at as sufficient security.

The dialogue on Land and Property deserves more attention such that this important issue is targeted towards the overall social and economic development of Zambians and the 752,000 square kilometres that make up Zambia.

Published 19th May, 2009