Report Emphasizes Connection between Property rights and Economic Well-being

2010 International Property Rights Index ranks 125 nations, 97 percent of world’s GDP

Accra – IMANI is proud to announce the release of the 2010 International Property Rights Index (IRPI), which measures the intellectual and physical property rights of 125 nations from around the world.  This year, sixty-two international organizations, including IMANI partnered with the Property Rights Alliance in Washington, DC and its Hernando de Soto Fellowship program to produce the fourth annual IPRI.

The IPRI uses three primary areas of property rights to create a composite score: Legal and Political Environment (LP), Physical Property Rights (PPR), and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).  Most importantly, the IPRI emphasizes the great economic differences between countries with strong property rights and those without.  Nations falling in the first quintile enjoy an average national GDP per capita of $35, 676; almost double that of the second quintile with an average of $20, 087.  The third, fourth, and fifth quintiles average $9,375, $4,699, and $4,437 respectively.

With regard to Ghana, property rights continue to be a challenge.   Franklin Cudjoe, IMANI’s Executive Director says of the state of property rights “Things are not that bad in Ghana despite the close to 60,000 land cases in our superior courts in Accra, the capital, alone. Yet they have the potential to drive investors away. It should not take our courts to grant ‘legal’ ownership  to a party in a land dispute who hurriedly erects a structure to the lintel level . That is aiding banditry, as the exercise of might and money will always win over weak and unprotected individuals who could be rightful owners”.  The 2010 IPRI ranks Ghana 41 out of 125 countries for registering physical property and 76 out of 125 for the protection of intellectual property rights.

Hernando de Soto, whose work in property rights lead to the inception of the IPRI, commented on the 2010 publication: “The fourth edition of the IPRI reveals encouraging signs of improvement in some countries, while also bringing attention to disturbing trends in others.”

The International Property Rights Index will provide the public, researchers and policymakers, from across the globe, with a tool for comparative analysis and future research on global property rights. The Index seeks to assist underperforming countries to develop robust economies through an emphasis on sound property law.

For more information, or to view the 2010 IPRI in its entirety, please visit www.propertyrightsalliance.org and www.imanighana.org