ELECRONIC LAND TITLING (E-TITLING) IN LAND ADMINISTRATION AND ECONOMIC ECOSYSTEMS IN RWANDA

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Electronic land titling in the field of land administration being a new concept of right registration on land and properties developed on it, is seen to be the future of a centric land administration in Rwanda. Rwanda is promoting a cashless economy and a full paperless land administration aiming at promoting the principle of “zero trip zero paper”. Since the completion of systematic land registration, the country has achieved a commendable work in the regularization of land tenure system which took place from 2009 to 2013 resulting to a mass land titling process where over 10,6 million of land certificates were registered and collected by land owners at a glance. Given that the application to land services mostly results to the issuance of a physical land title which acts as the proof of land ownership that can be presented as a collateral to financial institutions while applying for financial support, the title is supposed to be strictly taken care by the owner to avoid the loss or physical damage. Also the production of a physical land title implies huge cost to the Government of Rwanda and to the citizens. Once e-titling is implemented, all these bottlenecks will be addressed, since land owners will only use their electronic gadgets like phones, IPADS and computers to access their information and keep their land titles digitally. This paper seeks to enlighten policy makers and professionals in land administration on the importance of implementing electronic land titling and how it can increase transparency, equity, and accountability and speed up land related services and other services that require a proof of real property ownership.