PARTNERSHIP | Mozambique’s Web3 Startup, Empowa, Enters the Nigeria Market in Partnership with National Housing Cooperative Collective

Empowa, described as a financial technology company utilizing on-chain payments and NFTs on the Cardano blockchain to enable funding for affordable housing through a lease-to-own model, has announced its entrance into the Nigerian market.

In recent months, the Empowa team has been working closely with local partners in Nigeria to determine the most effective way to enter the Nigerian market – one that aligns with both economic realities and community needs. A recent visit to Abuja by Glen, the Founder of Empowa, and the team marked the culmination of this groundwork and the official launch of Empowa’s strategic expansion into Nigeria.

At the heart of this expansion is a tripartite partnership involving:

* Empowa – providing blockchain-based infrastructure and digital tools through the EmpowaPay platform.

• PropPay – serving as Empowa’s representative in Nigeria and helping to navigate local regulations.
• The Housing Cooperative Collective – a national body representing housing co-ops across Nigeria, acting as the support and implementation partner for deploying the solution to its members.

This partnership was formalized at the 2025 National Housing Cooperative Conference, where Empowa participated as both a sponsor and presenter. The event brought together housing co-ops from across the country to explore digitization, regulation, and housing solutions. EmpowaPay was showcased as a digital platform designed to help co-ops:

• Collect and manage member savings
• Record financial transactions on-chain
• Track progress toward housing goals
• Facilitate and leverage funding, and manage rent-to-own contracts

Feedback from co-ops was overwhelmingly positive. There’s clear demand for modern, transparent digital tools, and EmpowaPay is well-positioned to become the preferred solution for co-ops looking to comply with upcoming digitization mandates – potentially impacting hundreds of thousands of end users nationwide.

The Role of Cooperatives in Nigeria’s Financial and Housing Landscape

In Nigeria, cooperatives – commonly referred to as “co-ops” – play a foundational role in the country’s informal financial system. With a banking sector that still leaves millions without access to affordable financial services, co-ops have emerged as grassroots solutions for community-based savings and lending. It’s estimated that there are over 100,000 co-ops nationwide, each acting as a collective savings mechanism to meet members’ financial needs.

These needs range from group purchases of essentials like rice to support for major life events such as weddings. Crucially for Empowa, a growing segment of these co-ops is focused on housing finance – enabling members to save collectively toward homeownership or rent-to-own arrangements. In the absence of formal financing options, housing co-ops provide a pathway to affordable, secure shelter by pooling resources and distributing financing within trusted community networks.

Despite their critical role, most co-ops still operate manually – relying on pen-and-paper records, offline communication, and limited transparency. This reduces efficiency and presents challenges in financial reporting, data accuracy, and regulatory compliance. However, change is on the horizon. The Nigerian government is now proposing legislation that will require all co-ops to digitize their operations – creating a timely and significant opportunity for solutions like Empowa.

What This Means for the Empowa Project

This marks a significant milestone for both Empowa’s mission and token utility. Through this partnership:

• EmpowaPay becomes a gateway platform for co-ops to digitize, collect savings, and access housing finance.
• Each transaction through EmpowaPay will generate fees used to buy EMP tokens on the open market – creating natural demand and strengthening the token’s utility.
• Empowa is exploring a listing on a regulated Nigerian centralized exchange, which would simplify Naira-to-EMP conversions and accelerate adoption.
• The platform will also allow co-ops and their members to use EMP as collateral in their home savings process – embedding the token in local housing ecosystems.

Nigeria, with over 250 million people, is Africa’s largest economy and among the world’s fastest-growing populations. The unmet need for affordable housing finance is massive – and Empowa now has a pathway to create scalable, on-the-ground impact.

As part of the rollout, the team also visited long-term development partners, Millard Fuller and The Affordable Housing Company (TAHC), to inspect past and ongoing housing projects. Both developers already use EmpowaPay to collect data and are well-positioned to be among the first to benefit from co-op-enabled tenant financing.

What’s Next

Empowa’s launch in Nigeria is just the beginning of a larger roadmap focused on engagement, rollout, and local adoption.

Here’s what’s ahead:

Immediate Next Steps:

• Onboard pilot co-ops and begin digitizing their savings systems with EmpowaPay
• Align project timelines with co-op financing for developers like Millard Fuller and TAHC
• Finalize a Nigerian exchange listing to facilitate Naira-to-EMP transactions
• Launch community outreach and education initiatives for co-op members

In the Coming Months:

• Expand deployment to more housing co-ops under the Housing Cooperative Collective
• Introduce on-chain saving mechanisms tied to EMP for aspiring homeowners
• Share video content and site tours showcasing the types and quality of homes being delivered
• Host an AMA (Ask Me Anything) to share exciting updates from Mozambique, where Empowa is also making significant progress

According to Empowa, this expansion into Nigeria is the result of months of hard work, collaboration, and a shared belief in the power of blockchain to enable affordable housing.

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