FIG Peer Review Journal
Back
The Africa We Want: (Re)Positioning Land-as-heritage to Enhance Africa’s Identity (13728) |
| Uchendu Chigbu, Elvena Hayford, Jennilee Kohima, Aune Shikongo and Cathrine Marenga (Namibia) |
Dr Jennilee Kohima
Senior Lecturer
Namibia University of Science and Technology
Windhoek
Namibia
|
| |
| Corresponding author Dr Jennilee Kohima (email: jkohima[at]nust.na, tel.: +264812137085) |
| |
|
| [ abstract ] [ paper ] [ handouts ] |
|
Published on the web n/a
Received 2025-09-16 / Accepted n/a |
| This paper is one of selection of papers published for the FIG Congress 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa in Cape Town, South Africa and has undergone the FIG Peer Review Process. |
FIG Congress 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa
ISBN n/a ISSN 2308-3441
URL n/a
|
Abstract |
| The future of Africa, as defined and framed by Africans through the publication “The Africa we want” by the African Union (AU), recognises land and identity as key challenges on the continent. The framework, called Agenda 2063, embraces combined principles drawn from the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the local realities in African communities and beyond. It also recognises that the future of Africa depends on how land is managed to achieve a sustainability scenario that recognises the past, present and future use of land. However, land has multiple meanings to different people. It can be understood through various lenses, including culture and tradition, agriculture, natural resources, the economy, physical geography, spirituality, heritage, identity, the environment, human rights, and commodities. The capacity of people to access, use and enjoy rights over land is essential to their development. The exercise of land rights (positioning) depends on how they are promoted (branding) to establish, preserve, or maintain the distinct characteristics of a place that encompass lived memories (heritage), relationships, values, and experiences (identity) that create a sense of place. Heritage and identity are two critical aspects that have influenced Africa’s development due to the continent’s legacy of colonialism, slavery, and neocolonial practices. Addressing these heritage and identity crises can contribute to achieving a sustainable future for Africa. Therefore, this paper explores how branding land as heritage can position the exercise of land rights (i.e., land-as-heritage) in Africa to enhance Africa’s identity. Using literature, the study conceptually evoked the term ‘land-as-heritage’ and analysed its interactional elements. In creating an understanding of land-as-heritage, it deconstructed a visual scenario of Africa’s land-as-heritage using the town of Uturu in Nigeria. It then examined the status of land-as-heritage in Africa from the branding, identity, and positioning perspectives. It concludes that the current brand, identity, and positioning of Africa (from a land-as-heritage dimension), while reflecting a positive outlook, are blurred by its lowly rated political-economic situation in the global geopolitical space. It recommends and discusses a values-led planning approach as a path to enhancing Africa’s branding and identity in the global marketplace through appropriate positioning. |
| |
| Keywords: Access to land; Legislation; Afrocentrism; African identity; Land-as-heritage; Land branding; Visual storytelling; Policy influence; Diaspora engagement |
|
