The Director of the Land Valuation Division, Lands Commission, Ghana, Dr. Theodora Mends, has called for comprehensive reform of property taxation as a pathway to strengthening local revenue systems and financing sustainable urban development across African cities.
Mends spoke recently during her presentation at a session hosted by the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) at the African Real Estate Society (AfRES) conference, which held in Lagos.
Her presentation, titled: “Reforming Property Taxes for Equity and Inclusion in African Cities: The Way Forward,” stressed that successful reforms must rest on four pillars of institutional capacity, fair valuation, political support, and visible benefits for citizens.
She argued that cities must embrace digital innovation to modernise property tax systems, even as she recommended measures such as the use of digital tools for property data collection and assessment, online portals for public access, mobile and web-based payment platforms, and community-based payment booths.
To boost compliance, she urged the implementation of consistent public education campaigns, simplified payment processes, and incentives or rebates for early and regular payers. Reforms, she added, should also introduce firm payment deadlines, sanctions for defaulters, user-friendly grievance redress mechanisms, and private-sector participation in valuation and revenue collection under structured public-private partnerships (PPPs).
According to the expert, property taxation is globally recognised as the primary source of funding for local development, noting that in advanced economies, “it provides reliable revenue for schools, hospitals, public transport, security, waste management, and employment opportunities, particularly for young professionals.”
By contrast, African cities remain heavily under-reliant on this tool. She noted that property tax accounts for just 0.38 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) across Africa, with Sub-Saharan Africa averaging between 0.1 and 1 per cent. In high-income countries, the figure typically reaches 2 per cent of GDP.
Ghana experience
Highlighting ongoing initiatives in her home country, she said Ghana has introduced a unified property rate platform, a revenue-sharing model through PPPs, a national property addressing system, and electronic mass property appraisal.
However, she noted that challenges persist, including low coverage and weak compliance.
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In Nigeria, reforms have focused on Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, digital payments, and improved administration, yet the system remains constrained by incomplete property records, informality, inefficiency, and low enforcement.
Broader challenges across African cities, Dr. Mends observed, include outdated legislation, weak regulatory structures, poor transparency, limited public knowledge of assessment processes, and a lack of accountability among tax collectors.
Other barriers, she noted, are obsolete valuation rolls, high and uneven tax rates, inadequate adoption of technology, and low collection efficiency.
She, however, pointed to success stories from Freetown, Kampala, and Dakar, where, she said, municipal authorities have deployed satellite imagery, drone data, mobile GIS, and Computer-Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) systems. These innovations, she explained, have enabled the creation of digital property registers and credible tax bases even in areas with weak addressing systems or informal property markets.
Dr Mends concluded that reforming property taxation is central to achieving equitable, inclusive, and sustainable urban development in Africa, noting that without it, cities will struggle to finance basic services, reduce poverty, or keep pace with rapid urbanisation.
Panel discussion
Following Dr Mendes presentation was a panel session moderated by the Manager of the Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development at the University of Lagos (CHSD-UNILAG), Dr. Esther Thontteh.
The panel, which featured the Dean of the School of Environmental Science at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, Prof. Olurotimi Kemiki; a Valuation and Investment specialist at Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof. Olusegun Ogunba, and Mr. Olaitan Olaoye of Gbenga Olaniyan and Associates.
These panelists echoed the urgency of reform, underscoring both the economic and social dimensions, and warned that speculative land banking in prime areas, such as Lagos, fuels scarcity and shuts out low-income earners, advocating for higher taxes on vacant plots.
They stressed that without comprehensive reforms, African cities will struggle to deliver essential infrastructure, reduce inequality, and manage rapid urbanisation.