Land & Property :: eRegulations RWANDA

The Rwanda land system is defined by the Organic Land Law of 2005. No difference is made between nationals and foreign investors.

All land belongs to public entities: the State, the Cities and the Districts. "Public land" is reserved for public use or for environmental protection.

"Private land" can be allocated by its public owners (State, Cities and District) to natural or legal persons. It then becomes "individual land". It is leased, for up to 99 years, through a lease contract and against payment of an annual lease fee. The lessee can obtain an ownership certificate by paying at once 10 years of lease fee and by constructing a building on the land (or by improving/exploiting it conforming to its intended use).

Land rights can be transmitted (through sale, donation or inheritence).

Indivudual land customarily owned before the 2005 law can be registered under the new law.

Registration of land in Rwanda is mandatory. The government embarked on the programme of systematic land registration in 2010 in an effort to register all land partitions in the country and issue land titles to the owners. This programme is carried out in accordance with the procedures set out in Annex 3 of ministerial order No 002/2008 of 01/04/2008 (art.25) determining modalities of land registration. The process is ongoing and the government aims to finalize all land registration very soon. Once this process is complete, certificates of provisional land ownership will cease to exist as all the people will have certificates of registration of emphyteutic lease or full ownership titles.

Register individual land in Kigali Obtain an ownership title	"Individual land" refers to land held and occupied by citizens and legal entities under some form of private tenure: long-term lease or full ownership. A full ownership certificate is granted to leaseholders who pay 10 years of lease at once and who have made tangible improvements to the land (fences, buildings, etc.).

Transfer of individual land in Kigali Land with full ownership title Land with certificate of registration of emphyteutic lease	Rights to land may be transferred between individuals or they may be guaranteed through succession; they may be donated, leased or sold; rights may also be mortgaged according to requirements and procedures provided for by ordinary civil law without prejudice to specific provisions of the organic law. Final transfer of rights on land like sale, donation or exchange by a representative of the family requires the prior consent of all other members of the family who are joint owners of such rights.

Acquisition of private district land (w/o expropriation) In the City of Kigali Private District land	Land can be acquired, and tenure rights obtained (lease contract or ownership certificate), for: - "Private land" owned by the State, the City of Kigali or the Districts not reserved for public use or nature preservation and available for "individual" tenure (contrary to "Public land"). The procedures for acquisition of Private State land and Private City of Kigali Land will be documented shortly.

Construction Permit Construction Permit for Commercial Projects	The Kigali City One stop Center was created by the decision of the cabinet held on 14 April 2010. Its objectives are to; ensure respect of safety standards in the construction sector, develop key areas and review planning, ensure quick service delivery by issuing construction permits for commercial projects in Kigali city and monitoring and advising district land bureaus on efficient service delivery.