Overlapping Land and Natural Resource Property Rights: A Comparative Analysis from Africa

Separate, distinct property rights regimes exist for many high-value natural resources (e.g., oil, natural gas, minerals and wildlife), governed by different laws and administered by various public institutions. The rights to these natural resources are often allocated to outside, commonly foreign entities for large-scale operations. The governments in Ghana, Liberia, Uganda, and Kenya have established separate, distinct property rights regimes for land and many resources, governed by different laws and administered by various public institutions. While communities may claim customary rights, the legal rights of access, control, transfer, and exclusion—the bundle of property rights to explore, develop, produce, or otherwise use many high-value natural resources—are only available to individuals and institutions when specifically granted by government. Research for this report was conducted to address five sets of issues related to overlapping land and natural resource rights: ownership and control, notification and consent, licensee authorities, landholder rights, and compensation. The research involved legal reviews of the principal mineral and petroleum laws in Ghana, Liberia, Uganda, and Kenya, as well as literature reviews and interviews with civil society leaders in the target countries. The findings from the research are organized by natural resource and five sets of issues. In Ghana, Liberia, Uganda, and Kenya, the mineral laws establish that minerals are the property of the state and/or are vested in the government. The exploration and extraction of minerals require government authorization, and most land, including most privately-held land, is open for mineral operations. However, the mineral laws in Ghana and Kenya provide government with the authority to acquire privately-held land in a compulsory manner for mineral operations, while the mineral laws in Uganda and Liberia are silent on this matter. The governments in the four research countries are not required by the mineral law to inform or have the consent of landholders to establish mining blocks on privately-held land. However, the mineral law in Ghana requires the government to notify the landholder when issuing a mining license, and the mineral law in Uganda requires the government to notify the landholder and local government of the decision to grant a mining license. The mineral laws do not require the government to have the landholder's consent to issue a license.