Ghana Issues Only 50 Years Leasehold for Property Foreigners Buy

Nigerians, and other foreigners, who are planning to acquire property in Ghana should know they are entitled to a leasehold of 50 years only, but it can be renewed if the holder desires.

Individuals and businesses can buy property in Ghana. If their interest is land purchase, then they may choose from the five types of land available. They can also buy a building or buildings and in all cases prepare their 50 years lease document in collaboration with their vendor and this will be taken to the Ghana Lands Commission for authentication and processing. The only document required during property purchase is the identity of the Nigerian or non-Ghanaian, for instance, a passport. Businesses with over 40 per cent nonGhanaian ownership-structure are considered foreign. Officials of this Commission said it takes 140 days to complete documentation. They are working on reducing the time to process leasehold to 30 working days, but now it is between 90 days and 140 days.

They advised that prospective owners take possession immediately. They will also need to hire a lawyer to guide them through all the processes from land identification to documentation. Ghana’s Estate Surveyors have not been empowered by law to do this job.

This information was provided at the Ghana-Nigeria Business Council’s first webinar on ‘Understanding Leasing and Purchasing Land in Ghana, held recently. The webinar was called because of a growing need to make people understand the processes of purchasing and leasing land in Ghana, which is considered a key challenge for most people, according to the Executive Secretary of the Council, Nadia TakyiwaaMensah in her introduction.

Nadia Takyiwaa-Mensah stated that the Council was established to support people and businesses from Nigeria that intend to invest in Ghana and to support Ghanaian businesses that are interested in investing in Nigeria.

The webinar featured two people from Ghana’s Lands Commission, Timothy Anyiodoho, and Ruth Mawunyo Asuo, both Surveyors, and a special guest, Ekua Eguakun, a Lawyer.

There are five main ownership regimes of land in Ghana- State Lands; Vested Lands; Stool/Skin Lands; Family Lands and Private Lands. Understanding this is a major challenge to many investors from Nigeria and to even Ghanaian, said Anyiodoho.

The State Lands are acquired by State and “all interests are extinguished, this type of land can only be granted from the State. The dangers with lands like these is that sometimes when government acquires large tract, it is not in absolute control of them so people go and encroach or the people we call the expropriated owners (original owners) to back to the same land and may mislead an investor and tell him that the land is State land but government has given it back to us and therefore we have the authority to grant it,” he said, adding it is misleading and that it is only the state that can grant it.

Vested Land has split ownership. “It is pretty much like the State Land, but only that the proceed goes to the Stool from which the land was acquired, after the necessary deductions are made. It has similar characteristics of the State Land,” in terms of management.

There are Stool/Skin Lands. Skin Lands are found in Northern Ghana and Stool Lands are in lower north to south of the country. They are managed by Stools. “The Stools management them, as a fiduciary duty, on behalf of the larger communities, and in collaboration with the Principal Eldest. If somebody is supposed to approach a Stool for land, he should be wary and understand that the Stool or Chief will not be acting in his personal capacity.” Ensure his Principal Eldest is present during land negotiations.

The fourth category is the Family Lands that are controlled by family heads and manage the land in conjunction with Principal Members of the family”, who must be present when looking at the property.

Then there is Private Lands/ Property that were acquired by individuals over the years and have become self-acquired property. The only caution here is to ensure it is free of encumbrances.

To identify which land the prospective buyer is interested in, he or she would be presented a site plan, defining the boundaries and “you do a search at the Lands Commission, which is decentralised in formerly 10 Regions but now 16 Regions in Ghana. They should be able to inform you whether the land falls within State Land or any of the others. But there is a small caveat somewhere because the Commission’s record is not sacrosanct because it is limited to the extent of information in its records. There may be areas where no Stool or Skin has gone through the process of registration.

Ghana has six categories of land titles- Allodial, Common Law Freehold, Customary Freehold, Usufructuary Interest, Leasehold Interest, and Customary Tenancy.