Global Compact International Yearbook 2013
55
investments are situated on lands that are being allocated by
government authorities without the free, prior, and informed
consent or authorization of the local communities, who hold
customary rights (rights that are in many instances recognized
under international, but not national, law) over those lands.
Governments are in essence granting lands to investors that
they do not in fact hold free and unencumbered property rights
to. The result is that, in many cases, investors encounter major
conflicts when they acquire such lands. As recent findings
published by the Rights and Resources Initiative demonstrate,
such conflicts are often costly, and often incur large losses on
the part of the investor, particularly if projects must eventually
be abandoned due to local legal action or resistance.
Reforms for sustainable growth
African societies face both major risks and growing opportuni-
ties as global markets generate more demand for African re-
sources – ranging fromwildlife and wilderness for recreational
tourism, tominerals and fossil fuels for industrial consumption.
In order to minimize negative fallout such as growing social
strife, economic inequality, and political instability, and to
maximize positive opportunities for growth and investment,
two major priorities require more attention and action.
The first is to design and implement far-reaching land tenure
reforms that grant clear recognition to citizens’ customary
lands, including both individual and group landholdings, as
well as the natural resources associated with those lands. It is
due to a historic anomaly, a deleterious legacy of colonialism,
and the political priorities of post-independence governments
that community land rights remain unrecognized – with so
much land held by central governments in so many African
states today. Property rights are a basic foundation of economic
growth, prosperity, and human rights, making land reform a
central development priority across Africa. Some countries have
recently taken action or are planning reforms – for example,
Kenya’s 2010 constitution represents a notable positive example
of far-reaching land tenure reform, and land is similarly high
on the agenda of Tanzania’s current constitutional reform
process. Even the vast and complex Democratic Republic of
Congo, where nearly all land and forests are formally owned
by the state, has embarked on a land policy development
process that has the potential to bring about crucial reforms.
The second priority is to promote greater awareness of the
challenges to national development aims and private invest-
ments in land-based enterprises that the current land tenure
realities create – this includes the current mispricing of
tenure risks in financial models of investments – and to
promote alternative investment models that mitigate these
risks. The most essential element of such alternative models
is to shift from the prevalent current pattern, where investors
in African countries are often allocated landholdings directly
by the state, to where private enterprises and local communi-
ties or smallholders directly enter into partnerships or joint
ventures. Such models are, in fact, common. There is a long
history of contract farming in the agricultural sector across
much of Africa. There has also been a great deal of innovation
in the tourism sector, with joint ventures between lodges and
rural communities, which provide land and access to wildlife
and other natural attractions. These models generate greater
local equity, control, and benefits. As a result, they mitigate
the risk of local conflicts that have been impacting many of
the investments pushed through during the recent global
land rush. Such win-win arrangements that create new eco-
nomic opportunities and market access for rural communities
through partnerships with external expertise and capital will
be critical to the future of African economies. These business
models can also play a crucial role in helping to sustain Africa’s
natural assets through the right combination of incentives
and devolved governance.
Fred Nelson is the Executive Director
of Maliasili Initiatives, an organization
that promotes sustainable natural
resource management and conservation
in Africa by focusing on building
the capacity of leading local civil
society organizations and facilitating
collaborative approaches.
CSR in Africa
Agenda