Port Harcourt is in the news again, this time for giving Africa solution to land fraud. A startup has developed a tech to help real estate industry operate without land fraud which inhibits investment.
It is now known that up to 95 per cent of lands in Africa especially Nigeria may not boast of verifiable titles, so said chief operating officer (COO) of a startup. The situation may be same in all of Africa, according to Ndifreke ‘Endy’ Ikpoku, co-founder and COO of HouseAfrica.
The COO disclosed this in a statement issued in Port Harcourt to announce a tech-based solution built through three types of Apps that may re-define the real estate industry.
Ikpoku revealed that the biggest bane of the real estate sector in Africa is land fraud bedeviled by non-verifiable titles. He said this malady exposes genuine retail investors to fraud.
He however, disclosed thus: “Our solution enables buyers to make informed decisions when buying lands.”
He called it fraud-proof land real estate transaction tool which has already attracted up to $400,000 in funding from investors.
In his statement, the HouseAfrica COO said the team members were inspired to build this after one of the co-founders was defrauded in a land deal.
HouseAfrica, described as a proptech startup providing real estate digitalisation and transparency tools, announced the unveiling of Sytemap.com.
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The expert said it is a product that enhances confidence in the sector and eliminates fraud in land and real estate transactions across Africa.
The company was founded by Nnamdi Uba and Ndifreke Ikpoku who have also announced the closing of $400,000 in funding from leading African and global investors like Future Africa, SSE Angel Network (SSEAN), ARM Labs, CV VC, Startupbootcamp Afritech, Niche Capital, Rebel Seed Capital, and others.
The tech, Sytemap, is said to come in three suites: Sytemap for estate developers, Sytemap for buyers, and Sytemap for realtors. It is said to leverage what the founders called proprietary blockchain and map technology to create a private land registry, digitising real estate project sitemaps, increase transparency, and enhance trust.
The statement added: “It enables instant land transaction authentication while growing sales for real estate companies.
“Sytemap for customers simplifies buying and paying for land/house with confidence without fear of being defrauded. The other, Sytemap for Realtors enables more people to become digital realtors with minimal effort.”
In his statement, the COO said over 100 real estate companies already use Sytemap. He named some early patrons as AlphaMead, Leadway Properties, and Bamboo.
In a corroborating statement, Amaka Udeh, managing director of Leadway Properties disclosed thus; “HouseAfrica mission aligns with ours especially as it ensures our clients enjoy the value of their real estate investments.”
Also speaking, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji of Future Africa said: “HouseAfrica is helping to create and digitize private land registries. I always thought it was only the public land registries that were slow, inefficient and murky until I heard about the experience of a friend who had to pay two different sets of people to buy land within a private estate. I’m super excited about how by helping private landowners and estates digitise their land records they can start to help create transparency and value that should hopefully soon inspire government land registries to follow suit.”
It is not clear when the company began their research to crack one of the most difficult challenges in the real estate sector and where they want to take their endeavour to. As at the time of filing this report, it was not clear what the regulatory agencies in the sector feel about the innovative product.
