A sustainable model for financing the Benin land registry
The scope of the work of our Beninise partner organisation, the Agence Nationale du Domaine et du Foncier (ANDF), has been rapidly expanding. A great development, but also a costly one. Together we designed a business model based on a fee structure for registering transactions.
From 70,000 to 8 million parcels
ANDF has been working diligently on the implementation of a nationwide land administration system. This represents a major organisational transformation: evolving from a structure designed to maintain 70,000 cadastral parcels into an institution capable of managing a registry of more than 8 million parcels.
A viable business model
This expansion significantly increases the scope of work, requiring substantial additional staffing, operational resources, and financial capacity. This raises an immediate and essential question: how will these costs be sustainably financed, and what business model will support this new mandate?
Fee-based government services
Through several missions, we worked with ANDF to develop this business model. It enables the organisation to secure the financial means needed to maintain its digital land administration system. This helps ensure the delivery of modern digital services to the public. Drawing on our experience as a fee-based government service provider, we supported the design of a fee structure for registering transactions. These include services such as property transfers and parcel subdivisions.
Reducing the price of property transfers
Together we examined all relevant financial flows. For instance, all applicable transfer taxes. And also, fees charged by stakeholders across the service chain, such as notaries and private surveyors. Although further refinement is still required, estimates indicate that a property transfer could be registered for the equivalent of approximately € 40, excluding tax. This is significantly lower than the several hundred euros historically charged. Yet it is still a meaningful amount in a country where the minimum monthly wage is roughly the equivalent of € 80.
More information
For more information on our cooperation with ANDF, please visit the page Benin: Boosting the national land administration.