This week we are speaking with Daniel Bloch, who co-founded Seso Global together with Phillip Jarman. Seso Global is a a startup at the intersection of Web3 and PropTech, to talk about mortgages, land registry, and how blockchain can streamline these processes.
With over 200 real estate developers on the platform and over $15 million worth of properties sold across Africa, Seso Global has built significant trust and traction in the market.
Now, in collaboration with Ecobank, one of the leading pan-African banks, Seso Global have launched a first-of-its-kind mortgage product at historically low rates in Liberia, which they plan to roll out to all 33 African countries where Ecobank is present.
Through Seso Global & Ecobank, this gorgeous 2 Bedroom Detached House in Monrovia, Liberia, worth south of $30k, would cost less than $500 per month, with an annual interest rate of 12.5%. While that may seem high to the American or German buyer, where interest rates for mortgages are as low as 6 or 4%, in Africa, this rate is historically low.
Daniel Bloch: Outside of South Africa, the mortgage situation in Africa is challenging. In Nigeria, for example, the average interest rate on local currency mortgages can easily exceed 25%. This is largely due to the high interest rates at which governments have to borrow from global markets.
To put things in perspective, in Ghana, only 0.2% of the population has a mortgage, compared to 63% in America and 28% in the UK. These high interest rates and limited access to mortgages create significant barriers for people trying to buy property.
This is the context in which we partnered with Ecobank to launch our mortgage program, which is currently live in Liberia, a great market for testing, as it has a population of 8 million. Our program tackles key problems with mortgages, including the difficulty of credit scoring in local markets.
Our long-term vision involves using blockchain technology to create smart contracts where all parties involved in a property transaction have digital signatures recorded on the blockchain. This will make it easier to maintain records and potentially integrate with government systems in the future.
What is Seso Global?
Founded in 2019, Seso Global has been tackling the challenges faced by real estate investors, particularly those in the African diaspora.
Africans living abroad send $50 billion a year back to Africa and it's estimated that 30 to 50% goes to real estate in a lot of countries. Seso Global was founded to cater to this customer base.
The startup currently has 3 main products:
The marketplace, which is both a marketplace and an API solution. It's where all the properties are listed, but it's also a platform that B2B clients like banks or brokers can connect to for cross-selling opportunities.
The CRM, which is a management portal on the back end. It's designed for developers or agents to manage all their documents, leads, team members, assign tasks, and track progress.
The land registry, which they are currently piloting with the Sierra Leone government.
Daniel Bloch: Currently, billions of dollars in donor money are spent annually in emerging markets to digitize land registries, but much of it is wasted.
For example, in Ghana, 80% of land is owned by traditional rulers like kings, chiefs, and families. The government doesn’t have jurisdiction over most of the land. Many traditional boundaries are unclear, and records are often non-existent or unreliable.
It's not necessarily due to malicious intent, but rather a lack of capacity. Many governments lack the expertise or resources to conduct comprehensive surveys and update these systems, making it a massive undertaking.
Our approach is different. Instead of asking governments to pay us upfront, we’re building the system ourselves. We’re engaging developers, landowners, and banks. Once the system is digital and functional, we’ll offer it to governments to adopt and license with a revenue-sharing model. It’s a win-win situation.
Adaverse: When you first launched Seso Global, you chose Ghana, even though you lived in Kenya at the time. How has the Ghanaian market evolved since then?
Daniel Bloch: The transformation has been remarkable. When we started, the real estate market was much smaller, with limited international investment. Two key events changed the landscape dramatically: the Year of Return initiative and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Year of Return, marking 400 years since the first slave ship left Ghana, invited people of African descent to visit and potentially relocate to Ghana. This generated about $2 billion in tourism and attracted many celebrities who bought properties.
Then COVID hit, increasing demand for housing solutions as people started working from home. Airbnb reported that post-COVID, Ghana became their fastest-growing market worldwide. This period also saw a surge in online real estate platforms and PropTech companies.
The transformation extends beyond real estate. When I first went to Ghana in 2016, there wasn't even mobile money. Now, MTN's mobile money service is the primary form of payment.
Adaverse: Is Seso primarily an African product, or are you building for the global market?
Daniel Bloch: Our team are primarily Ghanaian and Nigerian. and most of them have been scammed, buying land, or had a family member with this experience, so I would say it's very personal to the team.
That being said, we are solving a global problem and the concept of e-mortgages and digital registries is gaining traction worldwide. Our future plan is to expand what we're doing with banks and developers in Africa to other regions like the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the Caribbean, Latin America, and potentially Asia.
We’ve done an exploration trip to Saudi Arabia because we see a future where many people will want to invest in property there. But will they understand all the technicalities? Will they feel comfortable being there on the ground themselves? They'll likely want a platform catered to international buyers.
We're a tech platform at our core. We have a marketplace, but we're also providing too-[]ls for real estate brokers abroad. We have agents in the UK, US, Canada, and South Africa – many of whom are Africans wanting to sell property where they live but also have an affinity for properties back home.
These agents can connect to our API and create their own websites featuring Seso's properties. The idea is that in the future, if you're a real estate agent in the UK wanting to sell global real estate, you could connect with Seso's portfolio of properties and banks in Africa, and later in the Middle East and beyond.
Adaverse: What’s top of mind right now, what are the trends in your sector?
Daniel Bloch: There are several exciting trends emerging. Fractional real estate is gaining traction, but not just in terms of property ownership. We're seeing increased interest in fractional lending to construction companies. Another major focus is on sourcing quality, transparent building materials and finding reliable contractors. This is driven partly by safety concerns following building collapses in places like Nigeria and even Miami Beach.
Blockchain technology is being explored as a way to provide transparency in construction processes. We're also seeing a shift away from traditional classified websites for real estate listings towards verified platforms that pre-vet listings and offer financing options.
Overall, the main trends are:
Making real estate more accessible through fractionalization and new lending services.
Increasing transparency in construction and property management.
Moving towards verified, all-in-one platforms for property listings and transactions.
Adaverse: What would you like other entrepreneurs to know?
Daniel Bloch: Come to Africa! The West African coastline is the fastest-growing region in the world. There was an article in The Guardian about the megalopolis forming there.
Many African countries are open for business and want investment and innovation. Nigeria, for example, consistently ranks in the top five for crypto trading volume globally, despite occasional legal restrictions. What we really need are crypto firms and blockchains ready to invest significantly with boots on the ground.
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