The Senate of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Nov. 28 accepted for consideration a land reform bill presented by the minister of land affairs, O’Neige N’Sele. The bill, adopted in a first government reading on Nov. 7, is the country’s first major reform in more than fifty years and seeks to secure land rights, modernize administration and end irregularities such as overlapping plots and unauthorized settlements.

The draft law introduces several significant changes. These include full digitization of the land registry, the abolition of acquisitive prescription, stronger protection of border areas, an end to payments in kind, the creation of a land price index, a reduction in no-cost land concessions and a national audit of unused land. It also requires mandatory mediation before legal disputes and strengthens civil and criminal liability for public officials.

Separately, DRC launched a pilot project for blockchain-based land management in June 2025 in partnership with local experts and the company Duna RWA. The system, built on the Solana blockchain, converts land titles into secure, traceable digital tokens to ensure document authenticity and protect sensitive citizen data. Property transfers are validated through official channels such as notaries or government authorities to prevent fraud and duplication.

Land management issues have also emerged in the Rocades de Kinshasa project, launched in June 2024 to ease congestion in the city center and support urban development. President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi and the government had flagged risks of land disputes related to informal settlements and expropriations. They established a framework based on transparency, local consultation, compensation and mediation to guide implementation.

Boaz Kabeya