The Empowa team are excited to introduce the Cardano community to a project we have been working towards for many months. We are taking on a very ambitious project, to empower financially excluded communities through shared wealth creation, using an innovative NFT platform to fund housing property development in underserved African markets - a trillion dollar opportunity.
While ambitious, we recognise that big problems need bold innovations and that is why we are forming a team, partnerships and advisors who are experts in their field to collaborate in achieving our goals. While Cardano will form the foundation for the Empowa platform, a project of this scale requires more than just blockchain and software technology professionals. That is why we are thrilled by the number of people with on-the-ground experience dealing with housing development challenges in Africa who have been inspired by our vision to join the project.
The Empowa vision is encapsulated in our introductory Medium article If you draw a line, would that indicate your horizon? | by Empowa | Apr, 2021 | Medium
Our full White Paper is available on our website at https://empowa.io
While our platform build will be crowdfunded through a token sale, as this will not be done until smart contracts are available on Cardano, we have submitted a Fund5 Catalyst proposal to help fund our Phase 0 activities at https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Introducing-Empowa/352666-48088.
As the success of the Empowa platform is reliant on those participating having confidence that on-the-ground delivery of the proposed housing development approach is viable, by working with a Project Partner and Approved Supplier to prove that a circular, environmentally friendly and affordable housing project can be implemented, we will demonstrate to those looking to support the platform build through the token sale and those wishing to use the platform once complete, that this innovation is achievable.
To celebrate Phase 0 as the first step toward making this important innovation possible, 50 limited edition Empowa NFTs will be minted. All Cardano addresses that participate in the Fund5 vote for the “Grow Africa, Grow Cardano” challenge will be eligible for inclusion in a random draw to receive one of these NFTs. As the NFTs will be issued pre-platform build, once the platform is completed and the full capabilities that NFTs created through it will have are available, these rare NFTs will be transitioned to the platform with special empowerment characteristics.
We would welcome any feedback on this project and would also like to extend an invitation to anyone who wishes to get involved. We can be contact on Twitter at @empowa_io or on Telegram at @empowa_io.
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This is project is so huge. I love it’s vision to bring real wealth to real people and not just the people who have the wealth to participate in the current crypto wave. That is why I am in the project and am happy to help. There are so many things to do, anyone who feels they want to help out, please reach out to me at hai.vo@empowa.io
There place for anyone wanting to lead an impactful life.
Hai Vo
Dear @phil.lewis ,
I have visited your website and I have read Empowa’s whitepaper. The ambition behind Empowa appears to align with Charles H.'s stance against geographical determinism.
Website Feedback: I did not enjoy the website’s introduction to the issue. Words like “no longer sustainable, nor endurable” and “rising inequality and fear,” did not put me in a positive mood. Personally, I would have enjoyed it more if it started with “unite and empower.”
Whitepaper Feedback: The whitepaper was well presented and the information was easy to follow. Diagrams, charts, and the provided example were all very helpful to understand Empowa’s aspirations. The illustration/example with Mary and Betta Build was very helpful.
Things that stood out for me:
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A “Collector” would purchase a “pack” of “Empowerment Cards.” Each card represents a “unique share of an empowerment project.”
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Empowerment Card NFTs DO NOT give the holder any ownership rights over the property development that they helped fun.
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100 million fixed and pre-minted supply of tokens.
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The system will “track tenant’s reputation over time.”
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The purchase of collectibles will fund the building of sustainable housing properties that will generate rental income over a 10 year transition to the land owner. The NFT collectibles can be traded at any time and as their empowerment ratings increase their value as a memorable community moment could increase, potentially making them more attractive to collectors.
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Standardized and modular building.
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Crowdfund property project.
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Collateralizing their land through decentralized finance.
Remaining Questions
How does the NFT collectibles’ empowerment rating increase? What is a “memorable community moment” ?
What are some checks and balances you have for the Property Manager?
I don’t see much incentive for the Collector - is there a way to incorporate local art into the NFTs?
Thank you for sharing!
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Hi Thomas
Thank you so much for your thorough review and thoughtful feedback. We will definitely consider the language used on our website and what kind of emotional response it provokes.
Regarding your specific questions:
We haven’t finalised the exact mechanics for this, as it is still in the concept stage. We want to give them attributes never before seen in what we all currently think of for NFTs, so there may be different ways to increase different types of empowerment. For example, the Land Owner empowerment score would likely increase over the term of the transition, up to the point where she takes ownership (although there may be other ways to “boost” this) just based on the fact that she is getting closer to ownership of the property. Whereas the community empowerment may require more direct involvement by the NFT owner, such as giving some of the financial returns they receive from rent into a community project.
This was just a way of trying to communicate that we are hoping to have the NFT owner connect emotionally to the empowerment they are enabling through their NFTs. If their involvement in an empowerment project makes them feel good, then they are likely to want to remember that by keeping the NFT. It would be like keeping a photo to remember a special past event.
The Property Manager will have a contract with Empowa to deliver on their obligations, to report on the tenants and convert rent payments to add them into the platform (if the Land Owner is unable). They will receive rewards from the platform for doing this.
We would like the primary incentive for the Collector to just be wanting to help others in need, but without donating money (which as an approach hasn’t worked to date). As they will receive financial returns from rent, they are likely to fully recoup all their initial outlay.
We are exploring visual elements for the NFTs (such as local artists) to make them more familiar with current NFTs. That said there will over time be many different elements that will become part of the NFT, such as photos, stories and videos. We would even like to explore different way of story telling to describe how the empowerment has impacted lives, such as VR or even live interactions that only NFT holders can participate in. The only limits to this are the imaginations of our community and what can be added to the NFT experience.
Thanks again for your interest and please feel free to ask more questions and offer more suggestions.
Cheers
Phil
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I love this project. It has huge market potential. I have just been in Africa last week and I can already picture this project working there. The question is How will you market it to the people in Africa?
Hi @Glorycardona
Thank you for your enthusiasm and support. Regarding your question
We have established partnerships with property developers who already have experience in several different African countries, including how to promote the opportunity to people in those countries. As we grow, this model will be extended to other countries.
Given that funding is currently the biggest barrier, we would anticipate that a successful pilot will gain a lot of attention from property developers in other countries that experience the same funding challenges.
The current backlog of housing in Africa (50 million units), means that there is massive demand by people. Aside from our partners directly promoting the platform, once land owners and tenants experience this wealth creation opportunity, we expect (but won’t rely on) word of mouth to drive most of the new interest.
Thanks again for your interest in our project. If you have any other questions then we would be happy to answer them.
Phil
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For more information about Empowa, see our interview with Proof of Africa at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTTFW3jKv7E
