The future of Indigenous law in Africa, particularly in the context of land ownership, takes centre stage in a new scholarly work by one of the University of Fort Hare’s (UFH) highly esteemed Law scholars, Prof Enyinna Nwauche.
His latest book, The Privatisation of Indigenous Land Tenure and the Future of African Indigenous Law, offers a timely and rigorous interrogation of how legislative privatisation has reshaped, challenged, and, in some instances, redefined Indigenous legal systems across the continent.
At the heart of the book lies a critical and enduring question: what remains of Indigenous law in the wake of the privatisation of Indigenous land tenure? Through detailed legal analysis, Prof Nwauche examines whether this process has destroyed, altered, amended, or strengthened Indigenous law.
“This book is part of a broader research project that reimagines African Indigenous communities for a sustainable Africa. That reimagined community recognises individual rights and multistakeholder governance, while rejecting exclusive traditional hierarchies and patriarchy,” Prof Nwauche explained.
The publication is the second in a series emerging from this research engagement. The first, The Protection of Indigenous Knowledge in Africa (Springer, 2025), earned the 2025 UFH Vice-Chancellor’s Book Award, highlighting the growing impact of Professor Nwauche’s scholarship within and beyond the University.
The research in his latest book reveals a far more complex historical reality.
“The privatisation of Indigenous land tenure is not a recent phenomenon. The quest for some form of individual landholding or interest has always been part of the social fabric of Africa’s Indigenous communities,” he noted.
Among the central and urgent themes in the book is women’s access to Indigenous land, which Prof Nwauche identifies as critical to Africa’s sustainable development. While many African constitutions and statutes formally recognise women’s land rights, a significant gap remains between legal frameworks and lived realities.
“Africa will not make meaningful, sustainable progress if women are not strong partners in the multistakeholder governance of Indigenous communities,” he said. Encouragingly, his research also points to positive change, showing that women’s access to land is “in the ascendancy in several African countries.”
Beyond diagnosis, Prof Nwauche offers bold reform proposals. Among them is the recognition of Indigenous communities as governance entities in their own right, particularly in contexts where local government structures have proven ineffective.
“One way forward is to recognise a governance status for Indigenous communities as a substitute for dysfunctional local governments,” he explained, adding that he continues to develop and advance these ideas in the public domain.
Responding to the question on Indigenous law as a living system, he emphasised that Indigenous law is not separate from modern legal frameworks but forms an integral part of the legal systems of African states. “Indigenous law is part of the modern legal systems of African States. The ideas of solidarity, care, dignity, respect, reconciliation, sustenance, and security are key parts of a balanced, multistakeholder-governed community that indigenous law is mainstreaming into the legal systems of several African States.”
Regarding the book’s impact, Prof Nwauche said the intention is to shift the understanding of Indigenous land tenure in Africa. “It demonstrates that the importance of indigenous communities in Africa requires policymakers, legal practitioners, and community engagement in the recognition of individual interests or entitlements in land tenure, mediated by multi-stakeholder governance that ensures women’s access.”
Summarising the central message of the book, Prof Nwauche puts it succinctly:
“Africa will do better if we recognise that individual rights, interests and entitlements thrive within multistakeholder-governed Indigenous communities.”