Understanding urban property tax with Samuel B Biitir

As urbanisation accelerates across Africa, cities are under growing pressure to deliver essential infrastructure and public services – such as water, sanitation, drainage and electricity. Yet this expanding responsibility is unfolding in a context where sustainable funding and reliable financing mechanisms remain limited or entirely absent, leaving many local governments struggling to meet rising demands.

So, how can African cities manage their expanding expenditure responsibilities, particularly in the face of persistent funding shortfalls? One potential solution lies in property taxation – a levy applied to the ownership, transfer or occupation of land and physical property.

Ahead of an upcoming ACRC workshop in Accra, Chris Jordan is joined by Samuel B Biitir for a conversation around the challenges and opportunities of urban property taxation in African cities. With a particular focus on the Accra context, they discuss how property taxation could help to improve essential urban infrastructure and services, the need for political buy-in, the potential benefits and blockages posed by digitalisation, and the importance of transparency when it comes to securing citizen support.

> Read more about ACRC’s urban property tax workshop in Accra

Samuel B Biitir is a senior lecturer in the Department of Land Management at SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, and led ACRC's land and connectivity domain research in Accra.

Chris Jordan is communications and impact manager for the Global Development Institute at The University of Manchester, and ACRC's communications manager.

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Music: Brighter Days | Broke in Summer

Sounds: Zapsplat

This podcast presents the views of the speakers featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

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