In recent years, scholars have shown a growing interest in the study of rent, rentiers, and rentiership within the field of political economy. This research reflects the acknowledgment that contemporary global capitalism is increasingly driven by the control and extraction of rents from scarce assets, rather than through productive activities.
This shift has been facilitated by the process of "assetisation," which involves transforming a wide range of resources, from natural reserves to intellectual property, into financial assets that generate rental income.
The concept of "rentier capitalism," popularized by geographer Brett Christophers, has primarily been associated with highly financialized post-industrial contexts in the OECD countries.
However, anthropologists Thomas Bierschenk and Jose-Maria Munoz argue that rentier capitalism can also help understand African political economy. They highlight how this concept sheds light on the practices of African businesspeople who rely on access to political elites as a source of rents.
Building on this perspective, urban geographers have explored the application of rentier capitalism to understand urbanization dynamics in Africa. They argue that infrastructure megaprojects have accelerated urbanization in historically rural areas by facilitating the assetisation of land and the appropriation of rents by various actors.
These "inter-scalar chains of rentiership" involve actors operating at different scales, from global real estate developers to local land speculators.
Examples from Ghana and Kenya illustrate the impact of infrastructure initiatives on urban geographies. In Ghana, the construction of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor has contributed to the emergence of a transnational "mega-city region" along the West African coast.
This has created opportunities for rent extraction by actors such as Brazilian real estate capital, national political elites, and local traditional land custodians. However, these processes have also led to conflicts, as indigenous communities resist dispossession and rising land values.
Similarly, in Kenya, the Vision 2030 development strategy has focused on large-scale infrastructure investments to transform Nairobi into an "African Metropolis." While these projects have not yet catalyzed structural transformation, they have fueled a real estate boom.
International developers like Rendeavour are building private new cities, while national political elites and local speculators take advantage of road building to acquire and develop valuable land parcels.
The concepts of rentier capitalism and inter-scalar chains of rentiership provide valuable analytical tools for understanding the emergence of new urban geographies in Africa. Infrastructure-led development aims to address the infrastructure gap and promote economic development and structural transformation.
However, weak property taxation and poorly enforced planning regulations incentivize speculative investment in real estate, shaping urban landscapes and driving urbanization processes.
As African countries continue to grapple with urbanization challenges, understanding the role of rentier capitalism and its impact on urban geographies becomes crucial.
By examining the dynamics of rents, the actors involved, and the interplay of global and local forces, policymakers and scholars can gain insights into the complex processes shaping contemporary African cities and work towards more equitable and sustainable urban development.
The original version of this article was first published by the Elephant online journal.
Editor's Postscript:
Rentier capitalism refers to an economic system characterized by the accumulation of wealth through the ownership and control of land, natural resources, financial assets, and intellectual property, rather than through productive activities such as labor or entrepreneurship. In this system, the focus is on extracting economic rents, which are profits or income derived from the ownership of these assets, rather than creating value through productive investment or innovation.
The term "rentier" originates from the French word "rente," which means income or revenue. Rentier capitalism is often associated with a concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a small group of individuals or entities who derive significant income from rent-seeking behavior.
Rent-seeking refers to efforts to gain economic benefits by manipulating the existing economic and political systems rather than by creating new wealth. It involves using various means, such as lobbying, monopolistic practices, or regulatory capture, to secure exclusive rights, subsidies, or other privileges that enable the extraction of economic rents.
In rentier capitalism, the focus is on extracting maximum returns from existing assets or privileges, rather than investing in productive activities or innovation. This can result in a stagnant economy with limited opportunities for social mobility and innovation, as resources and power are concentrated among a few rentiers.
Critics of rentier capitalism argue that it can lead to inequality, as wealth and power become increasingly concentrated in the hands of rentiers, while the majority of the population struggles to access resources and opportunities. They advocate for policies that promote a more inclusive and equitable economic system, where wealth creation is based on productive activities and shared more widely among the population.