The Problem We Saw in Nigerian Real Estate
Nigeria has $300 billion in dead capital because 96 percent of land is untitled. Without a Certificate of Occupancy, land cannot be used as collateral, cannot be verified, and cannot be transacted with confidence. Fraud is endemic: double allocations, fake titles, land grabbing, and off-plan scams.
The housing deficit is 15 to 28 million units. Nigerians spend 70 percent of income on rent, more than double the UN benchmark. The title perfection process takes 3 to 12 months and involves five separate steps across multiple government offices. Diaspora buyers send billions home for property they cannot physically inspect, and frequently get scammed.
We are researching an automated verification, valuation, and compliance pipeline to unlock this market.
What We Are Researching
An automated pipeline for land title verification, AI-powered property valuation, fraud detection, and compliance checking.
Title verification
Automated checking of Certificate of Occupancy and Governor's Consent against government registries. Document OCR and validation to detect forged titles. Cross-registry validation to catch double allocations.
AI-powered valuation
Automated valuation model using comparable sales data, location scoring, and property characteristics. Replaces opaque pricing with transparent, data-driven estimates that buyers, sellers, and banks can trust.
Fraud detection
Detect double allocations, fake documents, and title defects. Cross-reference survey plans with government acquisition maps. Check for encumbrances, court cases, and liens. The federal government launched a fraud reporting portal in August 2025, acknowledging the scale of the problem.
Compliance automation
Track the five-step title perfection process. Auto-calculate Consent Fee, Stamp Duty, and Capital Gains Tax. Send deadline alerts. Generate completion timelines. Reduce a 3 to 12 month process to weeks.
Why Now
Government reform, technology adoption, and massive unmet demand are converging to create a once-in-a-generation window.
NLRDTP reform is starting
The National Land Records Digitalization Programme launched in 2025 to digitize land records across 36 states. Target: 50 percent formal registration in 10 years. One million digital titles in Phase 1 across 18 to 20 reform-ready states. The Senate Committee on Lands explicitly endorsed GIS and blockchain for land registration.
National Addressing Council framework ratified
The National Addressing Council ratified the addressing framework in 2025, integrating NIMC, NIPOST, and CAC. Digital address mapping creates the infrastructure layer that property verification depends on.
PropTech ecosystem forming
Early-stage companies are proving demand: rental platforms raising seed funding, blockchain registry startups, and developer mini-registries. The ecosystem is forming, but no one has built the verification and intelligence layer yet.
Diaspora demand is massive
Nigerians abroad send billions home for property. They need trusted verification before sending money. They cannot physically inspect. They rely on relatives and get scammed. A remote verification product serves this market directly.
Design Principles
Four principles that shape the research.
Where This Goes Next
The research is complete. The next phase is building the verification layer.
This Research Needs the Right Partners
The reform window is open. We need partners who understand Nigerian land administration, real estate development, diaspora markets, and government registry integration.
Explore the Laboratory
See the systems
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