Creating equitable access to affordable climate proof houses

Very few people in the world can afford to buy a home with cash. In any functioning economy, access to home ownership is addressed by the financial system. In most emerging economies, especially in Africa, the traditional bank-based mortgage system is not fit for purpose. In a country such as Mozambique, a country of 30 million people, the existing financial system has provided only 600 mortgages till date (CAHF Yearbook 2021). The assumption is that this is due to poverty, as Mozambique is one of the poorest and most climate impacted countries in the world. However, it is because the existing formal financial system does not meet the needs of the mostly informal market. This situation is repeated throughout the African continent and beyond. Globally, there are 1.2 billion people without somewhere decent to call home. To address this market, Empowa is addressing the following problems, with an initial focus on Africa.

Financial Exclusion

According to the International Labour Organization nearly 83% of employment in Africa is informal. Only with an employment contract and proof of formal income will traditional banks provide a mortgage, immediately excluding the majority of the population. By definition, informal income is not measured, therefore no credit history is developed. 

Poverty Cycles

Rapid urbanization, population growth, and economic development are driving an unprecedented demand for new housing. An estimated 3 billion people will require adequate and affordable housing by 2030. The lack of affordable and climate-resilient housing, combined with limited access to financing options, perpetuates cycles of poverty. 

Lack of Climate Resilient Housing

Climate change is causing more frequent and intense extreme weather events, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations in emerging economies. The effects of climate change include increased risks of flooding, droughts, heatwaves, and storms, resulting in the destruction of many homes and communities. Climate-resilient housing is crucial for these communities to safeguard their assets, well-being and livelihoods. 

The World Bank’s Unbreakable report found that:

•  impacts of disasters and climate change are more than twice as significant for poor households than others, because they tend to live in the most vulnerable areas, often with weak housing standards and limited or no access to credit or insurance. 

• for every dollar invested in building better before a climate-disaster ten dollars can be saved in reconstruction efforts later.

Lack of Low Carbon Housing 

Buildings and construction are responsible for 39% of all carbon emissions in the world while 80% of buildings that will exist by 2050 in Africa are yet to be built. In order for Africa’s eventual unlocking of housing supply potential not to adversely contribute to future CO2 emissions, conditions need to be created to start introducing greener building methods in emerging markets. To not unnecessarily burden already financially vulnerable households, it is important that these green solutions have a positive financial impact on poor people’s lives and do not create additional financial burdens.

Empowa redesigned financial systems to connect financially excluded people to affordable and climate proof housing. Empowa's lease-to-own solution, built on blockchain technology, unlocks the informal income from working families so they can access affordable, climate-resilient and low-carbon housing while building a credit history.  Home ownership transforms housing from a continuous expense into an investment, thereby creating a fundamental building block towards poverty alleviation.

In our proof of concept, taking just over 6 months and with limited resources, a picture emerges of people that banks do not consider credit worthy, but that can afford quality homes if facilitated via the Empowa platform. These positive results in a poor country on the frontline of climate change (where Southern Africa’s  deadliest cyclone hit in 2019) confirms to us that our tools can be successful in the most challenging conditions. Maturity of the formal financial system is not a prerequisite. In fact, the more dysfunctional the financial system, the more our platform can potentially revolutionize financial inclusion. 

Below is more detail on the suite of innovative products and services that address key barriers for the key users of the Empowa platform: prospective homeowners, affordable housing developers and investors.

Prospective Homeowners

Empowa’s lease-to-own program allows home buyers to move in immediately into a climate-proof home while they get ready to buy it. Our experience confirms this can accelerate their access to such a home by 20 years. Their incremental payments are registered on Empowa Pay- Client, a versatile, blockchain-based app designed for tracking and recording lease-to-own payments, accommodating both informal and formal income sources. By harnessing the transparent and immutable nature of blockchain technology, Empowa Pay verifies lease-to-own payments, progressively building a reliable and immutable repayment history for each individual. The Empowa platform allows for payments on a flexible basis in line with the unpredictable nature of client’s incomes: more in months with large income, less in months with little.

Affordable Housing Developers

Empowa supports local enterprises to deliver lease-to-own programs to those customers excluded from local mortgage markets. Enterprises can get qualified for Empowa’s investment if they confirm they have climate-proof affordable housing on offer that matches the interest of local markets. In our experience, our Empowa offering incentivizes local entrepreneurs to start developing housing solutions for lower income clients.  Empowa Pay - Business  supports this process by managing both qualification of possible clients and the overall lease-to-own management process. 

Investors

The Empowa platform is built on new and innovative digital technology. This technology enables the Empowa platform to create and transfer value and verify transactions in a safe, cost-effective, transparent and timeous way. In our proof of concept project we reduced transaction costs in getting investments from source to ultimate location by 90%.  

Empowa Trade gives investors access to the Empowa Platform through a Secured Defined Return Instrument (SDRI) which:

• Enables, manages and verifies returns

• Reduces project and currency risks

• Enables liquidity through timeous pricing and trade

• Enables collateral

• Measures and verifies impact

Our impact: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnGA-fuWaWg&t=5s

The Empowa platform serves those who are financially excluded and therefore cannot access a mortgage for affordable and climate proof housing. We aim to enable 1 million lower income families in emerging markets to become owners of a climate-smart home by 2030. Our set-up is such that we can easily deploy our platform across geographies. After a successful proof of concept we are now expanding with local partners in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Morocco and South Africa.

A typical Empowa target user is an individual like Sharon, a young teacher in Mozambique. Although Sharon has a formal part-time job as a teacher, she also runs an informal side business to pay for her family's living expenses. Consequently, because Sharon’s income also consists of informal income, she can’t provide enough of a formal credit history which enables her to access a mortgage for a climate-resilient home. Unfortunately, as a result,  she has to build the home herself with substandard materials and infrastructure. This makes her highly vulnerable to climate disasters such as cyclones, which are increasingly prevalent in Mozambique. When a cyclone strikes, the devastation leaves Sharon and her family without a home, livelihood, or basic necessities, forcing them to rebuild and face the same reality next cyclone season.

How will our solutions impact their lives?

Expanding and accelerating access to housing:

By offering lease-to-own models, Empowa can help underbanked individuals immediately gain access to affordable  and climate-proof housing, which in turn can improve their financial stability, resilience, and overall quality of life. Research confirms that people building housing themselves is a process that can take at least 10 years. Our proof of concept confirms that over 60% of Mozambique’s urban population now has the potential to afford climate-proof housing. Previously, only 3% of the urban population could afford a quality home through the local mortgage system.

Empowering individuals and communities:

Empowa's lease-to-own product offers a path to homeownership, empowering vulnerable communities to accumulate assets and unlock valuable economic opportunities. This impact is not just theoretical, the viability of this model is being proven in real life in our proof of concept in Beira, Mozambique, where lower income clients are successful in paying for their quality home.

Enhancing resilience:

100% of Empowa-financed homes are climate-resilient and designed to withstand natural disasters like cyclones. By enabling safe and secure homes, we can reduce the financial and social burden on families of climate disasters. The implementation of Empowa’s lease to own program in Beira, Mozambique, has ensured these lower income families could withstand climate disasters without damage or loss. 

Fostering economic opportunities:

Access to affordable housing can contribute to social and economic development in the community. Investment in affordable housing also results in significant and sustained job creation, producing five new jobs per house in emerging markets. Employment is a bridge between economic growth and poverty reduction. Housing construction plays an important role in urban economies – creating new jobs through on-site employment and indirectly through linkages with other industries.

Our team possesses a unique combination of expertise in the international affordable housing and digital technology sectors. This  positions us perfectly to approach the housing crisis in emerging economies as a great opportunity to create an intergenerational economic and social asset class which has the potential to break poverty cycles for good.

Below are short profiles of our core team:

Glen Jordan (Co-Founder) Glen Jordan, a serial impact entrepreneur, has founded multiple successful businesses in Africa, focusing on wealth creation and improving life for marginalized populations. With a history of developing fintech solutions and e-learning networks, he founded Bitprop in 2018 to tackle the challenge of providing pensions for informally employed individuals in South Africa. Bitprop uses a backyard rental model, demonstrating potential for wealth creation and improved living conditions. To expand this solution across Africa, Glen envisions a decentralized funding platform called Empowa, combining new technologies and innovative thinking.

Phil Lewis (Co-Founder)

With over 20 years of experience in designing and implementing large-scale software and IT solutions, Phil has spent the last 7+ years focusing on web-based SaaS products for numerous users. He has presented solutions to major private and government organizations, securing over $100 million in tender wins. In 2020, Phil completed a comprehensive school administration and digital learning platform for 900 South Australian public schools and preschools. Passionate about adding value to social good sectors, Phil is an active Cardano community member since 2018, participating in early adoption and testing programs like the Jörmungandr Testnet and Fund0 of Catalyst.

Marie-Odile Zanders (Head of Partnership Development)

Marie-Odile Zanders, a housing and investment expert with 20+ years of experience, specializes in affordable housing projects in the global South. As a co-founder of Mozambican affordable housing enterprise Casa Real, she put a market-based business model in practice that delivers affordable housing for the working poor. From 2007 to 2013, she worked at Dutch International Guarantees for Housing (DIGH), leveraging investments and support for their €75 million affordable housing investments into affordable housing entrepreneurs across Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Southern Africa. 

Greg Schneider (Chief Operating Officer) Greg is an energetic entrepreneur with a passion for marketing, business development, and education. He has successfully founded three businesses - Hiring Bounty (recruitment), Learning Loans (fintech) and Curator. Agency (startup consultancy). Greg's business development expertise is highlighted by numerous wins across Africa, particularly during his tenure as Business Development Director at Mirum.

Andrew Forson (Head of Quantitative Analytics and Risk)

An experienced business, finance, IT and Blockchain professional comfortable working in an international environment. I author textbooks and courseware, and deliver management and executive education and training programmes. I am an internet and blockchain systems software developer.

This on-the-ground experience in the African financial and housing sectors has provided us with an in-depth understanding of the challenges faced by financially excluded communities and the system changes necessary to use the potential of affordable climate-proof housing to create a more secure and equitable world.

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Empowa is applying to Solve because we recognize the immense value that the Solve community offers beyond mere funding. In order to achieve our mission of enabling 1 million families in emerging markets to become owners of a climate-smart home by 2030, we understand the significance of joining a global network with experience and expertise in developing, iterating, and scaling fintech solutions in emerging economies. 

Given the scale of the housing challenge in emerging economies we are seeking potential partners, mentors, and collaborators who can support us in evaluating and strategizing the nuances around entering and scaling our solutions in new markets across emerging markets. 

If selected as a Solver team, we’d be grateful to benefit from:

Expert advice to scale to new markets:

Considering the pent up demand for affordable housing, our solution has the potential to scale rapidly across the continent by tackling the financial bottleneck that hinders access to housing. Through Solve, we can gain insights from experts and partners to refine our approach and develop strategies that overcome the unique market, legal and cultural barriers for various markets.

Learning from past Solve members:

There are a range of past Solve members who have experience in areas that relate to the work we do, such as EasyHousing, EarthEnable and Myco Tile Panels. Engaging, learning and exchanging ideas with past Solve members would be an invaluable resource for us to share best practices and collaborate on innovative solutions that can accelerate our collective impact.

Signal to the industry of real-world blockchain use case:

The reputation of Solve and MIT for fostering innovative solutions will serve as a strong signal to the industry that our blockchain-based platform is a viable and effective solution for promoting financial inclusion as well as enabling affordable and climate resilient housing. This validation will help us gain credibility, attract partners, and further our mission. This is particularly important considering the various misconceptions around blockchain technology.

Scaling through institutional investment:

Being part of the Solve community will provide us with increased visibility and access to potential investors and partners, facilitating institutional fundraising efforts that are essential for scaling our solution. We have successfully proven the concept in Africa and developed the first version of the technology, proving the business case and demonstrating the exciting potential that this financial innovation offers. However, the support from Solve will be instrumental in our quest to unlock more financial resources and opportunities to scale across the continent.

By becoming part of the Solve program, we hope to demonstrate a real-world use case for blockchain technology and to be part of a global network interested in the development and transformation of the financial sector in Africa and beyond. It is not difficult to find people who agree that the financial system is broken for the majority of the world; it is far more difficult to find like-minded people who are interested in supporting the innovation required to change it. We are seeking to become part of that community.

We have redesigned financial systems so they can work for the working poor that are typically financially excluded in most emerging markets. Our radical reform offers financially excluded people a real potential to access a formally registered affordable climate-proof home with a decent quality of infrastructure services in a well-planned community. Throughout Africa, such an offering is unprecedented for these income groups.

As most of the housing market in emerging economies is informal, as is the income of potential customers, there is very little data and insight on what clients want, or even more importantly, what they can afford. The Empowa platform mobilizes data from informal housing markets to ensure the housing offered matches actual local demand,  enables funding for the off-take of affordable and quality homes, and uses digital technology to reduce risk and transaction costs. This enables success in emerging markets with dysfunctional housing markets, while providing impact  investors a balanced portfolio with the most appropriate risk/return profile. 

Some of our most pertinent innovations are: 

1. Sustainability - Financial and Environmental

Financial sustainability requires that the end user must pay for the product in a way that encourages investment into the sector and environmental sustainability requires meeting the needs of all stakeholders, including the planet. By using new and innovative digital technology, Empowa has already proven that transaction costs can be reduced by up to 90% and that climate-smart housing development, affordable to low-income communities, is possible.  

2. Replicability

In just over 6 months, with limited resources, Empowa has grown the Mozambican home loan market by 5% through our proof of concept project.  Our argument has always been, if the business case works in challenging conditions such as in of Africa’s poorest and most climate-impacted place like in Beira, Mozambique, it can work anywhere!  We have already confirmed this with the partnerships we have in place for scaling our approach in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Morocco and South Africa.

3. Scaling up to allow for fast growth

By using digital technology in a decentralized manner, Empowa is built for scale. We have built our platform in such a way that, together with our growing pipeline of local entrepreneurial partners, our tools can be easily rolled out in every geography and intervene at a local level. 

4. Scaling down to easily test innovations

The automation of processes across the housing value chain on the Empowa platform means that affordable housing investments can easily be scaled up or scaled down. This enables us to test innovative low carbon building solutions in small batches, invoking a SpaceX-like spirit where approaches can be tested and improved based on real on-the-ground results and market feedback. Upon success, these pilots can then be easily scaled up. Pilots we have already facilitated:

• Solver’s team Easy Housing’s circular and biobased housing pilot for lower income clients in Mozambique which uses sustainably-sourced timber and local value chains.

• Africa’s first affordable industrial hemp house in collaboration with Cape Town-based company Afrimat Hemp, pioneering the industrial hemp value chain in Africa.

Over the next year and the next five years, Empowa aims to achieve significant impact through our innovative affordable housing solutions, transforming the lives of underserved communities in Africa. Our impact goals are as follows:

Next year:

Financial inclusion:

Increase access to financing to at least 3 housing developers/service providers, while  facilitating those providers to roll out a lease-to-own model for at least 5.000 lower income families, enabling families with a path to ownership of a climate-proof affordable home, and providing affordable housing SMEs with the necessary capital to grow their businesses.

Affordable housing:

Finance the off-take of at least 5.000 safe, affordable and climate-resilient homes.

Scalability:

Expand our operations to at least 2 additional countries in Africa, further increasing our reach and impact.

Next five years:

Financial inclusion:

Increase access to financing at least 50 housing developers/service providers in emerging countries, while also facilitating a lease-to-own model for 250.000 lower-income  families.

Affordable housing:

Finance the off-take of at least 250.000 safe, affordable and climate-resilient homes.

Scalability:

Establish a presence in a minimum of 10 emerging countries, significantly expanding our reach and impact.

Systems change:

Drive policy changes and influence the wider housing ecosystem by demonstrating the effectiveness of our innovative solutions, leading to a more inclusive, climate resilient and scalable housing market.

To achieve these impact goals, we will focus on the following strategies:

Strengthen partnerships:

Develop collaborations with governments, institutions, housing developers/service providers, and investors to ensure a supportive environment for our solutions and to facilitate faster expansion.

Enhance technology:

Continuously improve and adapt our digital tools, such as Empowa Pay, Secured Defined Return Instruments (SDRIs), Empowa Trade, and EMP Token, to further streamline processes and reduce costs, thus maximizing our impact.

Impact measurement:

Regularly monitor and evaluate our progress towards these goals, using data-driven approaches to assess our impact and refine our strategies as needed.

By pursuing these strategies, Empowa aims to create lasting, positive change in the lives of thousands of families across emerging markets, while simultaneously addressing the broader issues of poverty, financial inclusion, and climate resilience and mitigation.

We measure our progress using key performance indicators (KPIs) in the following categories:

Financial Inclusion

• Number of people given access to lease to own facilities

• Number of people owning a climate-smart home after leasing

Housing Market Impact:

• Growth of local ‘home loan’ market per country

• Number of housing related jobs created

Socio-economic & health Impact:

• % of women led households accessing lease-to-own facilities
• % increase of subjective health after moving into improved and affordable housing 

Climate Impact:

• % of families living in a climate-resilient home

• Tons of CO2 reduced

Problem:

• Underserved and financially excluded communities in emerging markets face limited access to financing options, leading to a lack of affordable and climate-proof housing, and perpetuating the cycle of poverty, diminished economic opportunities and gives poor health outcomes. The situation is further exacerbated in regions vulnerable to extreme weather events stemming from climate change.

Input:

• Empowa provides innovative solutions, such as lease-to-own models, blockchain technology (Empowa Pay, SDRIs, Empowa Trade, EMP Token), and digitization, to increase financial inclusion and accessibility of affordable and climate-proof housing for underserved and climate affected communities.

Output:

• Increased access to financing solutions for families and small SMEs, enabling homeownership and business growth. Financing the off-take of affordable, energy-efficient, and climate-resilient homes using as sustainable materials as possible.

Outcomes:

• Improved quality of life, financial stability, and long-term resilience for families and communities. Enhanced economic development through the growth of local businesses and industries, increased employment opportunities, and stimulation of the housing market.

Impact:

• Secure and stable housing serves as a foundation for improving individuals' and families' financial stability, health, and well-being. By transforming the unavoidable living expense of housing into an investment through our lease-to-own model, we help families build wealth and break the cycle of poverty. This, in turn, contributes to SDG 1 (No Poverty) by empowering people to achieve long-term stability and improve their overall quality of life. We empower women through increased access to affordable housing and financial inclusion, supporting SDG 5 (Gender Equality). Our focus on energy-efficient housing solutions, such as hempcrete, align with SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy). We enable safe, affordable and sustainable housing, which lead to more resilient urban communities, addressing SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and enhance climate resilience and adaptation measures, contributing to SDG 13 (Climate Action). 

Evaluation:

• Regular monitoring and evaluation of the program's effectiveness are crucial to ensure our solution's success. We will track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as:

  •  Financial Inclusion

• Number of people given access to lease to own facilities

• Number of people owning a climate-smart home after leasing

• Housing Market Impact:

  • Growth of local ‘home loan’ market per country

  • Number of housing related jobs created

• Socio-economic & health Impact:

  • % of women led households accessing lease-to-own facilities
  • % increase of subjective health after moving into improved and affordable housing 

• Climate Impact:

  • % of families living in a climate-resilient home

  • Tons of CO2 reduced

These KPIs will help us measure impact and make data-driven decisions to optimize our approach.

In addition to tracking KPIs, we will conduct surveys and engage with target communities in order to gather valuable feedback and insights into the needs and aspirations of the people we serve. We will use this information to refine and adapt our solutions, ensuring that our initiatives remain relevant, effective, and responsive to the changing needs of the communities we serve.

By combining data-driven decision-making with ongoing community engagement, we can ensure continuous improvement of the solutions offered and maximize the impact of our program on the lives of those we serve.

The core technology that powers our solution is a combination of digital tools and blockchain technology. Our ecosystem of technology consists of four primary components:

Empowa Pay:

Empowa Pay is a mobile application designed for recording and tracking lease payments for Empowa-financed homes. This app is set to revolutionize the way lease-to-own payments are made, by leveraging blockchain technology to create a verified repayment history for each tenant. Through this decentralized process, Empowa will be able to better support the  management of lease-to-own offerings, ensuring verified financial information, reducing risk, and reducing the cost of finance to the consumer, all without compromising on returns.

Empowa Pay is critical to the support of the lease-to-own home loan model as it requires a technology platform that supports the financial principles of the product. Under lease-to-own monthly rent payments are differentiated from equity payments. Monthly rental payments do not contribute to the equity component of the home. Rather they represent the tenant's monthly cost of living in the house. Tenants can then contribute to the equity (capital portion) of their home as and when they can, based on the intermittent sources of income prevalent in the informal environment. These payments ultimately pay down the cost of the house allowing the lease-to-own tenant to become a homeowner.

Secured Defined Return Instruments (SDRIs):

The primary capital raising instrument in the Empowa ecosystem is the Secured Defined Return Instrument (SDRI) built on NFT technology. The Empowa SDRI will have several different characteristics so the Empowa platform provides the framework to make a particular SDRI easy to identify, compare, value, and trade. This framework ensures that the holder of the SDRI is able to determine whether the instrument is listed at a discount or premium to its intrinsic value.

The role of an SDRI is to provide a financial instrument that allows investors to participate in  affordable housing projects in Africa. Investors can select an SDRI based on its financial and qualitative features and receive a coupon for the life of the SDRI.

The Empowa platform protects against default with EMP (Empowa Token) by collateralizing the SDRI with EMP as security against the loan based on the houses to be financed. In the event of default, the quantity of EMP used to secure the position can be sold on the open market to protect investors from total loss. 

EMP Token:

The EMP token is a platform-native token introduced by the Empowa Platform used to collateralize investments in affordable housing. Capital raised is secured by cash flows associated with lease-to-own tenants’ repayments, and an amount of the EMP token supplied by developers as collateral. 

Empowa Trade:

Empowa Trade is a platform designed to allow accredited investors the opportunity to buy, sell  and trade Empowa Secured Defined Return Instruments (SDRIs). The marketplace provides a high degree of consistency, transparency, comparability, and reliability, which allows the market to define a price floor beyond supply and demand-based pricing for each SDRI.

These technologies come together to create an innovative and streamlined process for financing affordable, resilient, and sustainable housing, while integrating climate-smart technology such as hempcrete for constructing high-quality homes.

At Empowa, we are deeply committed to incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusivity into our work, especially in terms of building a team with people from the communities we serve. We believe that a diverse team, with a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds, leads to better decision-making, innovation, and ultimately, a more effective solution to the challenges we face.

Our leadership team reflects this commitment to diversity, as it is composed of individuals from different cultural backgrounds, genders, and areas of expertise. By prioritizing the recruitment of talent from the communities we serve, we ensure that our team has a deep understanding of the unique challenges faced by these communities and can develop tailored solutions to address their needs.

Building a team which includes people from the communities we serve offers numerous benefits, including:

Enhanced cultural understanding:

Team members from the local communities possess valuable insights into the cultural nuances, values, and expectations of the people we aim to serve, which enables us to design more culturally appropriate and effective solutions.

Increased trust and credibility:

By employing individuals from the communities we serve, we demonstrate our commitment to the local population and foster trust, which is essential for the successful implementation of our initiatives.

Empowerment and economic development:

Hiring from the local communities provides employment opportunities and contributes to the economic development of the areas we serve, while also empowering individuals with valuable skills and experiences that can be leveraged to create lasting positive change within their communities.

To achieve our goals around diversity, equity and inclusivity, we have taken several actions, including:

• Implementing inclusive hiring practices that aim to reduce bias and ensure equal consideration of all candidates, regardless of their background or identity.

• Providing ongoing training and development opportunities for our team members, focusing on topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of these values.

• Establishing regular feedback and review processes to evaluate our progress towards our diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, and to identify areas where we can continue to improve.

By integrating diversity, equity, and inclusivity into our work, we are not only creating a stronger and more resilient organization but also ensuring that our solutions are more effective, impactful, and relevant to the diverse communities we serve.

Empowa | Financial Engineering: The Mathematics, Financial, and Risk Engineering Underpinning the Empowa Ecosystem of Financial and Utility Instruments

Our business model is centered around a combination of revenue streams that leverage the Empowa platform's capabilities to facilitate and streamline financing for affordable and resilient housing. These revenue streams include:

Underwriting and Issuance Fees:

We charge fees for primary market functions, such as underwriting and issuance, in the form of EMP tokens. These fees serve as administration and facilitation fees for every underwriting instance.

Transaction fees:

We charge fees for secondary market functions, such as trades on the SDRI Marketplace. These fees are levied on a per-transaction basis and are ultimately utilized as trade initiation and facilitation fees in EMP tokens.

Direct Broker Dealing Fees:

We generate revenue by providing liquidity through market-making services within the secondary market (SDRI Marketplace).

Qualified Broker Dealer Fees:

We invite qualified institutional partners to act as market makers on our platform. In exchange, these partners must pay marketplace access fees (in EMP tokens), while conducting their trading activities using EMP.

AUM Fee:

In addition to the flat SDRI Marketplace transaction fee, we charge an annual platform access utilization fee that represents a small percentage of the assets under management (AUM).

Our revenue model is focused on net platform revenue and rent-to-own revenues up to and equal to the level of property developer debt or cash flows from the debt repayments. This combination of revenue streams enables us to maintain a sustainable and diversified income base while supporting the development and growth of affordable, resilient, and sustainable housing projects.

Empowa has redesigned financial systems so climate-proof housing can be more affordable and accessible to the many. We enable underserved consumer markets to get access to affordable quality homes through our decentralized technology platform. We make it attractive to providers of capital to enable the development of affordable and climate-smart housing whilst not exploiting the consumers of this capital. 

Our proof of concept confirms that the Empowa platform reduces the cost of finance at least by half for the lease-to-own customers, with associated conditions that are much in line with the way these families earn and live in comparison with current financial systems. Such as the flexibility that clients have in their monthly payments.

Our pipeline across several geographies in Africa confirms that our offer is very competitive and therefore appealing to local SMEs and their customers. The fact that investment through our platform is frictionless and transparent, especially in comparison to current dysfunctional systems, is very appealing to the local market players we have engaged with.

Empowa is a start-up. 

In order to become financially sustainable, Empowa has to get to a stage where the revenues from the sources above, will cover the costs of the platform. This entails scale. 

To get to this scale will require an estimated 24 months and further in-country projects. The challenge is to secure the funding to get Empowa through the typical start-up “valley of death” - the time between successful proof-of-concept and positive cash flow.  This funding can either come in the form of Venture Capital or Technical Assistance. Our preference is to get through the valley with Technical Assistance funding as we do not wish to pass VC costs onto the end consumer, but should this be required we will find a way to do so with least impact. In order to secure this funding, we are seeking to partner with global players in the financial inclusion and climate funding space, in order to develop further credibility and forge relationships with interested funders, impact investors and development finance institutions.

Empowa has successfully proven its concept in Beira, Mozambique (Africa’s most climate-affected city in one of the world’s poorest countries) and developed the first version of the technology, proving the business case and demonstrating the exciting potential that this financial innovation offers. 

To do this, Empowa has:

• Raised funds for Empowa from multiple sources including such credible players as Mercy Corps Ventures

• Raised funds for the 30 lower income families to access affordable climate-smart homes in Beira, Mozambique

• Forged relationships with in-country delivery partners to deliver the housing

• Enabled the local partner with the technology to offer lease-to-own as the means of off-take

• Demonstrated that there are sufficient informal income flows to sustainably pay for affordable climate proof housing

• Developed the technology to record, verify and report the lease-to-own payments on the blockchain

• Demonstrated that the funding and impact  principles such as gender equity and environmental standards can be implemented, measured and reported 

• Mobilised a pipeline of partners across the African continent keen to collaborate with Empowa