Why Sytemap constructed a map listing to tokenise actual property in Lagos

There are few investments extra treacherous than shopping for land in Nigeria.

In 2017, Ndifreke Ikpoku paid ₦23 million ($13,000) for what gave the impression to be a authentic plot on the outskirts of Port Harcourt, a rising city metropolis within the nation. The paperwork checked out—till they didn’t. 

On nearer inspection, the “asset” he believed would cement his place in Nigeria’s aspirational middle-class was little greater than paperwork for land that had already been bought a number of instances over.

He misplaced the cash—and the delight that comes with being a landowner in Nigeria—however not his resolve.

That loss would grow to be the inspiration of a startup.

Alongside Nnamdi Uba, Ikpoku got down to deal with one of many nation’s most entrenched property-market failures: possession verification. They based Sytemap, previously HouseAfrica, a startup that digitises land data on the blockchain to scale back fraud and double allocation.

In Nigeria’s property market, fraud shouldn’t be an anomaly; it’s a structural characteristic. Builders promote extra plots than exist. Brokers market land that has quietly modified fingers. Double allocation, the place a number of patrons are issued rights to the identical parcel, is frequent. 

Verifying title standing typically requires bodily visiting a registry, navigating opaque forms, and coping with incomplete data.

The dangers are significantly acute in Lagos, the place peri-urban estates are spreading quickly, and land can change fingers a number of instances earlier than formal registration is full.

Whereas legal guidelines, such because the Lagos State Lands Registration Regulation (2015) and the Land Use Act (1978), search to legitimise the property marketplace for homebuyers within the state and the nation at giant, the hole typically lies in enforcement. 

Poor document administration and inconsistent oversight create fertile floor for fraud. In August 2025, the federal authorities launched a digital portal permitting homebuyers to trace, report, and monitor housing fraud—an acknowledgment of how deeply the issue runs.

“The principle motive we began [Sytemap] was as a result of he [Ikpoku] misplaced an enormous amount of cash shopping for actual property,” Uba, Sytemap’s co-founder and Chief Government Officer (CEO), stated. “We realised we couldn’t resolve it by simply sharing threat. The issue was structural. What was lacking was infrastructure.”

In 2019, the startup launched as “HouseAfrica” with an preliminary ambition to allow fractional property possession on blockchain rails. The premise, stated Uba, was that ten individuals may personal a property and share rental earnings transparently. However virtually instantly, Ikpoku and Uba encountered a deeper impediment.

“We had been having loads of questions then,” Uba stated. “What of the [land] title? What if one thing occurs? How can we confirm these properties? These are infrastructure points that had been already affecting us. If the underlying land shouldn’t be verified, you can not fractionalise it safely.”

Earlier than they might tokenise possession, they needed to resolve verification. That realisation finally led to what’s now Sytemap and to the creation of what the founders describe as a digital map listing for actual property in Lagos State.

The registry that stalled

The founders’ first intuition was to work with the federal government.

They stated they partnered with the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Firm (NMRC), an establishment that gives liquidity within the mortgage market, and signed agreements with the Nigerian Establishment of Surveyors. They explored integrating a blockchain-based land registry with Kaduna State, a north-western state in Nigeria, as a pilot.

“We wished to launch a blockchain-based land registry because the infrastructure that may assist us to do fractional possession,” stated Uba. “If now we have a blockchain registry, we are able to clearly inform individuals, go right here and confirm.”

Then the pandemic arrived; the bureaucratic processes slowed additional.

“We stayed the whole thing of 2020 with out attaining one single factor,” stated Uba.

By 2021, the founders concluded that ready for state integration would stall the corporate indefinitely. They started asking a unique query: who already controls structured land data?

The reply was non-public builders.

The map listing resolution

Actual property builders in Lagos usually purchase giant parcels of land and subdivide them into plots. Internally, they preserve allocation data, web site plans, and purchaser registers. In impact, every developer operates a small, non-public registry.

Plot configuration typically is determined by the developer’s meant use—residential, business, or mixed-use—and should adjust to planning requirements earlier than allocation begins.

As a substitute of digitising the state registry, Sytemap determined to digitise these mini-registries and join them right into a single mapped system.

“What we did was to drop different options and decide solely the actual property corporations,” stated Uba. “Builders purchase acres of land and divide it into smaller plots once more, which implies they’ve entry to land data. They’re mini-registries. Our resolution might help them to attain what they need to do, however in a structured method.”

The core product that emerged is what the corporate calls a map listing. It’s a satellite-backed digital illustration of estates throughout Lagos and, quickly, different states. Every property is mapped, every plot geo-referenced, and each allocation is recorded towards a selected coordinate on the map.

Ikpoku stated Sytemap makes use of Google Maps as a base map and infuses different maps to boost the embedded options on its platform. The digitised knowledge on the map (the mapped properties) is obtained from actual property corporations, who, on the level of onboarding, have government-approved property growth layouts. 

“You aren’t going to purchase audio land,” stated Ikpoku. “What you’re shopping for is what you’re seeing [on the map]. We don’t simply digitise property as a result of a developer offers it to us. We confirm that they personal it and that it’s there. Then we place it on the map with satellite tv for pc imagery that tells you precisely the place this property is.”

Based on Ajayi Akinwumi, a Lagos-based surveyor, giant estates within the metropolis are usually mapped utilizing differential world positioning system (DGPS) tools to attain excessive positional accuracy earlier than plots are formally demarcated on the bottom. 

“After capturing the plots, you continue to must do structure and bodily divide every plot,” he stated. “It isn’t one thing satellite tv for pc imagery alone can decide.”

But, Sytemap says its proprietary map listing serves three capabilities.

First, it visualises provide. If an property has 500 plots, the system reveals 500 plots.

“With our satellite tv for pc imagery, whether it is 500, it’s 500,” stated Uba. “As soon as it’s bought out, it’s bought out.”

Second, it locks allocation in actual time. When a purchaser selects a selected plot, that plot is reserved digitally. The system doesn’t enable a second purchaser to pick the identical coordinates as soon as they’re marked unavailable. That is how Sytemap argues it prevents double allocation.

Third, it turns into the bottom layer for tokenising funds.

Tokenising cost, not hypothesis

In world markets, actual property tokenisation typically refers to issuing digital securities that characterize fractional possession in a property. Sytemap has intentionally taken a unique strategy.

Beneath Sytemap’s mannequin, a purchaser can choose a selected plot on the map listing and lock it with a minimal cost that may be as little as ₦50,000 ($37). The steadiness will be unfold throughout as many as 24 months. Every installment is recorded on the blockchain. For each cost made, the client receives a digital token that represents that portion of the duty fulfilled.

“As you’re making cost, we’re supplying you with tokens representing what you’ve gotten paid,” stated Uba. “On the finish, these tokens will be transformed into vouchers. We partnered with over 200 [retail] shops [in Nigeria]. You’ll be able to convert it to a Shoprite voucher or any grocery store inside your location. It’s to encourage completion of cost.”

The token, on this case, doesn’t characterize a tradable safety. It represents proof of cost inside a mapped allocation system. The excellence is necessary in Nigeria’s regulatory atmosphere, the place digital funding merchandise fall beneath securities oversight.

Sytemap is testing restricted fractional possession fashions via cooperative constructions. In a single pilot, teams of ladies co-own retail retailers in Lagos and Abuja. 

Due diligence and the Lagos registry query

One query hanging over any non-public land digitisation effort in Lagos is whether or not it conflicts with the federal government Land Registry.

Sytemap says it doesn’t exchange the registry and doesn’t subject statutory titles. As a substitute, it sits upstream, serving to to construct a construction for builders’ stock and recording transactions.

“We go and do a search, and get these search stories,” stated Ikpoku. “For lands, now we have individuals who get to the registry to offer us the actual standing of these properties, after which we match that with what the developer has offered. If that checks out, then it’s effective. For family-owned land, we additionally attempt to have a look at that as effectively via certified attorneys.”

He added that the startup encourages patrons to independently confirm.

“We nonetheless encourage them to do a second layer of verification, even once they have seen what is out there on our platform,” Ikpoku stated.

Akinwumi cautioned that digital mapping doesn’t eradicate the necessity for unbiased bodily verification. Giant estates typically require a number of professionals to validate layouts, titles, and boundary demarcations. 

“You continue to must go to the positioning and examine bodily,” stated Akinwumi. “It’s past what one particular person can deal with alone. Correct stories have to be filed.”

The enterprise mannequin and traction

Sytemap operates as a hybrid of software program supplier and market.

Builders pay a setup price to digitise their estates and combine them into the map listing. When plots are bought via the platform, Sytemap takes between 10%–15% fee.

The startup stated it generated $100,000 in income throughout its first two years following its 2021 pivot. In 2025 alone, the startup made $300,000 in annual income, in keeping with the founders.

In 2025, the startup stated it facilitated ₦1.5 billion ($1.1 million) in property gross sales. In January 2026, it recorded ₦80 million ($59,000) in transaction worth for the month.

Sytemap presently has over 20,000 registered customers, over 70% of whom are ladies, in keeping with Uba. About 2,000 ladies are energetic in its WhatsApp-based group, which the startup makes use of to drive gross sales and training round land possession.

“We discovered that ladies are the most effective place to enter,” stated Uba. “Solely round 20–30% of ladies personal land in Nigeria. That’s an untapped market. So we constructed a group round them, and that unlocked the promoting half for builders.”

The startup measures development primarily by transaction quantity, variety of plots bought, and the variety of ladies it helps grow to be landowners. Uba claimed Sytemap helped facilitate the sale of over 500 plots of land in 2025, but in keeping with the founders, the tokenisation startup presently has about 9–10 months of runway and is in talks to boost funding.

The moat: knowledge, mapping, and exclusivity

Sytemap’s long-term defensibility rests on aggregation.

In December 2025, the startup signed an unique partnership with the Actual Property Builders Affiliation of Nigeria (REDAN), which has about 5,000 members. The purpose, stated Ikpoku, is to register member estates and transactions right into a centralised system.

Sytemap additionally says that via its partnership with REDAN, it might entry constructing approval data held with the Lagos State Constructing Management Company (LASBCA), the regional planning regulator within the state. This enables customers to cross-reference planning approvals with mapped properties. 

“With our system, in case you see a property, it’s also possible to make reference to that property related to Lagos constructing approval company,” stated Ikpoku. “So now we have entry to all constructing approval in Lagos via the partnership that we’ve signed with [REDAN].”

The founders describe this as a part of a broader try and mixture actual property knowledge right into a single infrastructure layer.

“When you go to the US and also you need to begin a proptech enterprise, the most effective companion to stay with is Zillow,” Ikpoku stated, referring to Zillow. “They [Zillow] have the infrastructure that provides you entry to the whole lot. For us, we’re constructing that infrastructure for actual property in Africa.”

In contrast to itemizing websites the place brokers add properties that will already be bought, Sytemap says solely builders can handle their very own mapped stock. Availability is up to date on the supply.

“Our purpose shouldn’t be actually to promote property,” stated Ikpoku. “The sale is to maintain us going. The purpose is to construct the infrastructure that makes it simple for anyone to entry actual property and confirm in actual time.”

Each plot mapped and each transaction recorded expands the listing. Over time, the founders imagine this non-public repository may evolve right into a de facto reference layer for actual property in Lagos State, significantly in newly developed estates that may grow to be town’s subsequent residential corridors.

The purpose of all this has been to construct a non-public data infrastructure on the blockchain to help present land registries that the federal government already maintains, stated Ikpoku.

Whether or not a startup can succeed the place public registries have struggled stays unsure. However as Lagos continues to sprawl and casual allocation practices persist, Sytemap is wagering that the way forward for property in Nigeria, past paper recordsdata, might be secured on a map anchored on the blockchain.