2025 Conference on Land Policy in Africa (CLPA)

Illustrative Image: 2025 Conference on Land Policy in Africa (CLPA)
Image Source & Credit: AU
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Background

The 2025 Conference on Land Policy in Africa (CLPA) will take place under the theme “Land Governance, Justice, and Reparations for Africans and Descendants of People of the African Diaspora.” This theme resonates deeply with the African Union’s ongoing commitment to the pursuit of justice, reparations, and restitution for the crimes of slavery, colonialism, and their lingering consequences. These historical injustices—rooted in systemic exploitation and racial domination—continue to shape patterns of land ownership, economic inequality, and social exclusion across Africa and among people of African descent globally.

For centuries, African land, natural resources, and human labour were expropriated to fuel the industrial and economic growth of Western powers. The transatlantic slave trade forcibly removed millions of Africans from their homelands, subjecting them to dehumanizing conditions in plantations, mines, and factories across the Americas and Europe. Enslaved Africans generated immense wealth for colonial empires but were denied fundamental human rights, including the right to own property or benefit from the land they cultivated. Acts of resistance were met with brutal repression, including torture, deportation, and executions. Women, in particular, suffered grievous violations, including sexual violence, intended to produce generations of enslaved labourers.

These atrocities did not end with emancipation. Post-slavery systems—such as segregationist land laws, sharecropping, and racial zoning—continued to exclude people of African descent from owning and controlling land. Such structures entrenched cycles of economic and social inequality, perpetuating the trauma that originated in slavery.

Colonialism and Its Legacies

The colonial project extended the violence of slavery through the territorial conquest and economic exploitation of Africa. Following the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, European powers partitioned the continent, seizing land and natural resources under the guise of “civilizing missions.” Colonial administrations imposed new land governance systems that dismantled communal tenure arrangements and dispossessed indigenous peoples. Fertile lands were appropriated for settlers and foreign corporations, while African communities were relegated to reserves or became wage labourers on lands that once belonged to them.

The colonial system institutionalized racial hierarchies, economic dependency, and cultural alienation. It not only stripped Africans of land and livelihoods but also eroded their cultural and spiritual heritage. Sacred artefacts, regalia, and symbols of authority—such as royal stools, drums, spears, and ancestral relics—were looted and shipped to Europe, where they remain displayed in museums. These stolen artefacts generate income abroad while depriving African societies of vital cultural anchors, sources of intergenerational memory, and creative inspiration.

The violence of colonial domination was often genocidal. The extermination of the Herero and Nama peoples in Namibia (1904–1908), during which approximately 80% of the Herero and 50% of the Nama population were killed, exemplifies this brutality. Their ancestral lands were confiscated and remain largely under the control of German descendants to this day. Across Africa, colonial powers used forced labour, concentration camps, and public executions to suppress resistance. The extraction of resources and the destruction of indigenous systems of governance left profound social, economic, and ecological scars that persist in post-colonial societies.

Cultural, Linguistic, and Environmental Disruptions

Colonialism did not only transform political and economic systems—it also redefined social and cultural hierarchies. European languages were institutionalized as languages of power and progress, while African languages were devalued and marginalized. This linguistic dominance disrupted indigenous education systems and undermined local knowledge—especially in agriculture, medicine, and environmental stewardship.

Colonial agriculture privileged export-oriented cash crops and European food systems, displacing indigenous crops that sustained local communities. This imposed model of production undermined food security, biodiversity, and self-sufficiency, consequences that remain evident in Africa’s contemporary struggles with climate change and rural poverty.

The Case for Reparations and Land Justice

Land remains a central pillar of identity, culture, and economic empowerment in Africa. It is both a material resource and a spiritual inheritance. Yet, due to the intertwined histories of slavery and colonialism, Africans and people of African descent continue to face structural barriers to accessing and benefiting from land. Reparative justice—particularly through land redistribution, restitution, or equitable access to land—offers a pathway to redressing historical wrongs and dismantling systemic inequalities.

Experiences from other contexts, such as post-apartheid South Africa and the Māori land restitution process in New Zealand, demonstrate that meaningful reparations are possible when backed by political will, inclusive policy design, and strong institutional frameworks. Such efforts must go beyond financial compensation to include the restoration of cultural heritage, the return of artefacts, and the recognition of historical memory.

Addressing contemporary land inequities also requires reforming statutory frameworks that still mirror colonial land laws. In both rural and urban contexts, descendants of colonizers and elites often control vast tracts of land, while marginalized communities endure displacement, eviction, and environmental degradation. Urban gentrification and exclusionary planning policies further perpetuate dispossession among descendants of enslaved and colonized peoples.

Core and Cross-Cutting Themes

The 2025 CLPA will provide a multidisciplinary platform for critical reflection, policy innovation, and collective action. The discussions will revolve around the following core themes:

• Emerging best practices in developing responsive and inclusive land policies

• Strengthening institutions for effective, transparent land governance and administration

• Data, monitoring, and evaluation for evidence-based decision-making in land policy

Cross-cutting themes will include:

• Youth and intergenerational equity

• Gender and social inclusion

• Climate change and ecological reparations

• Technology and innovation in land governance

• Reparations and restorative justice

Proposed sub-themes will further explore:

• Land tenure and equity

• Climate justice, resilience, and ecological reparations

• Colonialism, agriculture, and agri-food systems

• Land, urbanization, settlements, and conflicts

• Colonial displacement and reparative justice

• Land governance, international law, and reparations

• Land, trade, colonialism, and economic injustice

Partnerships and Format

The Conference is jointly organized by the African Union Commission (AUC), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and the African Development Bank (AfDB), under the leadership of the African Land Policy Centre (ALPC). It will bring together policymakers, scholars, traditional leaders, civil society organizations, regional economic communities, and development partners to deliberate on the intersections of land, justice, and reparations.

The 2025 CLPA will feature plenary sessions, parallel sessions, master classes, policy dialogues, side events, and exhibitions. A formal Call for Abstracts will guide the selection of academic and policy contributions, ensuring that discussions align with the conference theme and contribute to Africa’s broader agenda for justice, land reform, and sustainable development.

Conclusion

The 2025 CLPA offers an historic opportunity to confront the intertwined legacies of slavery and colonialism through a land justice lens. By re-examining questions of land governance, ownership, and reparations, the conference seeks to advance Africa’s collective agenda for restorative justice, equitable development, and the reclamation of African dignity and heritage.

Land is not merely an economic asset—it is a foundation for sovereignty, identity, and self-determination. Addressing its dispossession is essential to achieving the vision of a just, prosperous, and united Africa.

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