Transforming Affordable Housing Finance
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of EmpowaPay V2, a monumental step forward in our mission to revolutionize affordable housing finance. This technology is more than just a tool—it’s a catalyst for change, designed to empower developers, investors, and communities alike. With cutting-edge features and a bold vision, EmpowaPay is redefining how housing finance solutions are delivered, tracked, and managed across emerging markets.
After months of collaboration with more than 18 developers across 8 countries, we’ve reimagined EmpowaPay to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving industry. The result? A powerful, versatile software product that not only strengthens your business but also paves the way for broader adoption of revolutionary housing finance models across Africa.
What is EmpowaPay?
EmpowaPay is our flagship product, part of the Empowa Platform, designed to track and record housing payments seamlessly. Serving both the end-user and in-country service providers, it provides a transparent and efficient way to manage housing payments while ensuring accurate financial data is delivered to investors.
Using technology to address key pain points in affordable housing finance, EmpowaPay manages payments, reduces risk, lowers costs for developers and consumers, and helps investors achieve sustainable returns—all while driving meaningful impact.
Key Features and Benefits
EmpowaPay is our flagship product, part of the Empowa Platform, designed to track and record housing payments seamlessly. Serving both the end-user and in-country service providers, it provides a transparent and efficient way to manage housing payments while ensuring accurate financial data is delivered to investors.
Using technology to address key pain points in affordable housing finance, EmpowaPay manages payments, reduces risk, lowers costs for developers and consumers, and helps investors achieve sustainable returns—all while driving meaningful impact.
Digitization
EmpowaPay is a web-based, mobile-responsive application that’s lightweight yet powerful, making it accessible and easy to use for tenants, property developers and financial institutions.
Cost Reduction
Through the integration of web3 technology, EmpowaPay maximizes the use of data, minimizes financial risks and reduces the cost of housing finance without compromising returns.
Inclusivity
EmpowaPay ensures that payments from both formal and informal income sources can be tracked, recorded, and validated on the blockchain, enabling financial inclusion for developers and consumers currently excluded from the financial system.
Pathway to Ownership
EmpowaPay supports informal earners and tenants on their journey to homeownership, helping families get access to housing finance, turning the expense of home ownership into investment in an asset and wealth creation, promoting financial independence.
Developer Tools
By providing property developers with the tools to manage and track all sales, including instalment sales, the system builds a track record of cashflows, property portfolios and demand for future projects. This data provides a quantitative basis for discussions with investors and financiers, reducing cost, driving growth and impact across the affordable housing ecosystem.
What’s New: EmpowaPay V2
EmpowaPay V2 is a leap forward, introducing groundbreaking capabilities that redefine cashflow recording, property management and enhanced value to consumers, developers and investors. Here’s what’s new:
Seamless Payment Integration
Our tenant app features enhanced integration with multiple local payment providers, such M-Pesa. This ensures:
- Ease of use
- Faster payment collection.
- Real-time data updates.
- Reduced risk of error between payment processing, blockchain recording and cashflow reporting.
Home Ownership Readiness (HOR) Score
One of the most exciting innovations is the Empowa HOR Score. Through the use of AI EmpowaPay can assess a waiting-list client’s readiness for a rent-to-own or installment sale contract. By leveraging industry, national and and developer-specific local data, the Empowa HOR Score predictive tool empowers developers to make informed decisions on tenants risk and select the best customers.
The Empowa HOR Score acts as a practical and useful precursor to a credit score for informal earners and the financially excluded.
Advanced Reporting Tools
EmpowaPay now offers richer dashboards, customizable reports, and drill-down functionality, giving consumers, developers and investors unparalleled insights into their home, properties and housing portfolios.
Expanded Payment Management
We’ve broadened the system’s scope to include all payment profiles – rent-to-own, installment sales, cash sales, mortgage sales, and lease agreements. This all-in-one solution makes it easier for developers to cost-effectively manage their entire sales portfolio.
Expanded Property Management
EmpowaPay can be used to manage all aspects of the property, including payment. The EmpowaPay App can be used by the consumer to make payments, access their financial data and communicate any issues, such as maintenance, with the developer. The developer now has an integrated solution to all their tenant issues and communications.
Enhanced Access Controls
Empowa takes data security very seriously. With role-specific and controlled access levels, data is secure and accessible based on role. Investors can view aggregated and anonymized data to provide a portfolio view while developers have the granular tools needed to manage their customers effectively. Consumers have access to their data.
Improved Tenant Management
Developers now have access to early warning mechanisms to highlight potential problem tenants, enabling earlier, automated interventions for better risk management.
Making an Impact
The launch of EmpowaPay V2 has been transformative, catching the attention of key industry players. We are now in advanced discussions with local banks, development banks, and tier-one developers to adopt EmpowaPay for managing affordable housing portfolios and scaling rent-to-own solutions
These developments and achievements haven’t gone unnoticed. EmpowaPay received prestigious recognition in 2024, including:
- AUHF Innovative Property Technology of the Year at the African Union for Housing Finance and International Secondary Mortgage Market Association Joint Conference in Zanzibar.
- NAHFIS Innovation Award at NAHFIS, the 7th Nigeria Affordable Housing Finance and Innovation Summit in Abuja,Nigeria.
Driving the Future of Affordable Housing Finance
EmpowaPay is more than an easy to use, accessible software product—it is part of a movement. With EmpowaPay V2, we’re accelerating the adoption of installment sales such as rent-to-own and other housing finance solutions across the continent, providing consumers, developers and investors with the tools they need to thrive.
As we onboard more partners and expand our reach, we are laying the foundation for a more cost-effective, inclusive and sustainable affordable housing ecosystem. Together, we are not just imagining a better future—we are building it.
