It is a very long process to get a 'titre foncier' in Togo. This is the paper the government issues when it has determined with 100% certainty that you are the rightful owner of the piece of land.

This is necessary because it sometimes happens that a family sells a plot of land twice and then complicated situations can arise! The second-to-last stage of the process is that the Togolese State Newspaper officially publishes who bought the land and then there is a three-month period during which any other buyers can make a claim. After these three months in it is basically just waiting for the government to come and check everything before they make up the official paper.

Our purchase has now been in this newspaper for five months...and we are now waiting for the final step. Completion is expected early next year.