The 5 Official Terms of Ivorian Land Law According to the Ministry

When a notary, a bank, or the administration asks you for an "état foncier" (land registry report) and you present an "état domanial" (administrative land report), your file is blocked. These are not synonyms. They are two distinct documents, issued by two different administrations, telling two complementary stories about the same plot.

The Ministry of Construction, Housing and Urban Planning (MCLU) devotes the sidebar on page 14 of its publication BÂTIR N°000 (October-December 2019) to the five authoritative definitions. Here they are, word for word, along with what they mean in practice on the ground.

1. The Attestation Domaniale: an internal document, never handed to the buyer

"The Attestation Domaniale is not a document issued to the ACD applicant and does not confer ownership. It is issued by the Director of the Urban Domain in the District of Abidjan and, elsewhere in the country, by the Regional Directors. It is addressed to the Registrar of Land Property and Mortgages and triggers the procedure for creating the Land Title." (BÂTIR, p. 14)

The Attestation Domaniale is the document the buyer never sees. It circulates internally, from the Urban Domain Directorate (DDU) to the Land Registry (Conservation Foncière). It certifies that the technical checks have been completed and informs the Registrar of the name of the future concession holder.

One confusion comes up frequently: some sellers present the village chief's "attestation" as an equivalent. It is not the same thing. The village customary attestation (attestation villageoise), a community document, was replaced on July 1, 2024 by the ADU (Attestation de Droit d'Usage coutumier, customary right-of-use attestation), issued free of charge since January 1, 2025. The Attestation Domaniale, by contrast, is an administrative document of the MCLU.

2. The ACD (Arrêté de Concession Définitive, the definitive concession order): the only document that confers ownership

"The Arrêté de Concession Définitive is the one and only document that confers ownership of an urban plot." (BÂTIR, p. 14)

The key phrase is "one and only". Any other document presented as a "title" in an urban area (allocation letter, Arrêté de Concession Provisoire, plot division certificate) is either a precarious document or an intermediate one with no value as definitive ownership.

The ACD is signed by the Minister of Construction in Abidjan, or by the Prefect outside Abidjan for residential lots within an approved subdivision of less than one hectare (Law No. 2020-624, article 3). Once published in the Land Register (Livre Foncier), it constitutes registration under the Land Title (Titre Foncier, TF): the land title is created during the ACD procedure by the Land Property and Mortgages Registry, not through a separate process afterwards.

3. The Certificat de Mutation de Propriété Foncière (CMPF): the notarized transfer

"The transfer of ownership of land covered by an Arrêté de Concession Définitive or a Certificat de Propriété Foncière is carried out exclusively by notarized deed and gives rise to a Certificat de Mutation de la Propriété Foncière issued by the Registrar of Land Property and Mortgages." (BÂTIR, p. 14)

The CMPF concerns the secondary market: you buy a plot that already has an ACD or a land title in someone else's name. The notary drafts the authentic deed of sale, the Land Registry records the transfer, and issues the CMPF in your name.

Official cost: 15,000 FCFA, with a processing time of about 15 working days. Legal basis: article 223 of the Urban Planning Code (Law 2020-624).

4. The état foncier: the legal life of the plot

"The état foncier provides the information contained in the Land Register, which represents the information concerning the legal life of the plot." (BÂTIR, p. 14)

The état foncier answers three questions:

• Who is the owner registered in the Land Register?
• Are there any mortgages, seizures, or easements?
• Which transfers have been recorded on this title?

It is issued by the Land Property and Mortgages Registry, which falls under the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI) at the Ministry of Budget, not the MCLU. Cost: 3,000 FCFA.

5. The état domanial: the administrative life of the plot

"The état domanial provides the information contained in the domain registers of the Ministry in charge of Construction and Urban Planning. This information traces the administrative life of the plot (the various documents that have been issued)." (BÂTIR, p. 14)

The état domanial answers a different set of questions:

• Which administrative documents have been issued for the plot (allocation letter, ACP, ACD)?
• Is the seller really the beneficiary of the document they are presenting?
• Has the subdivision been approved by ministerial order?

It is issued by the Urban Domain Directorate (MCLU). Cost: 5,000 FCFA.

The summary table to keep at hand

The golden rule: request both reports

In any serious verification before a purchase, you should request both the état foncier and the état domanial. They cover different scopes and complement each other. A seller who refuses or delays providing one of the two most often has a reason: a recent transfer, a mortgage, or a defect in the original document.

When both documents are recent (less than 15 days old) and consistent with each other, they form the foundation of a sound land transaction.

To go further: ACD vs Land Title: the official truth, Why private deeds of sale are prohibited, Who does what? The 4 key players in urban land in Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire).

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Official sources

• Ministry of Construction, BÂTIR magazine N°000, October-December 2019, p. 14
• Law No. 2020-624 of August 14, 2020, article 3 and article 223
• servicepublic.gouv.ci
• MCLU call center: 13 78 (Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm)

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