LIST | Mozambican Startup, Empowa, Emerges Winner of ‘Blockchain For Good’ Award at the 2024 Cardano Summit

The fourth annual Cardano Summit 2024 has concluded in Dubai bringing together over 1,000 industry leaders, developers, and blockchain enthusiasts from across 87 countries for two days of ground-breaking announcements and strategic discussions about the future of blockchain.

The event saw the attendance of Binance CEO, Richard Teng, who together with his Cardano counterpart, Frederik Gregaard, highlighted the critical role of compliance in fostering institutional adoption. Both leaders stressed the importance of regulation, noting Binance’s significant investments in its compliance program.

EMURGO, a blockchain company that supports Web3 adoption via the Cardano blockchain, announced a collaboration with BitcoinOS (BOS), the smart contract operating system for Bitcoin, to extend the benefits of Bitcoin’s $1.3 trillion in liquidity to Cardano DeFi users.

The event concluded with the Cardano Summit Awards 2024 recognizing excellence across multiple categories. Notable winners included:

• NMKR for Best Infrastructure Platform
• MinSwap for Best DEX and DAO Tooling, and
• Empowa for Best Blockchain for Good

Notably, Mozambican startup, Empowa, is addressing the lack of mortgages in Africa through loans powered by blockchain.

With a largely informal workforce, it is challenging for locals to establish the necessary profiles required for accessing mortgage loans. According to Empowa’s Zimbabwean founder, Glen Jordan, the ability of the blockchain to transfer value cost effectively without an intermediary makes it a possible tool to more accurately account for all this value that is not deemed useful.

For instance, in 2022, Empowa raised over $300,000 through the sale of its NFT debt product to investors which was used to finance housing loans for 30 families in Beira, Mozambique.

Empowa is currently expanding its solutions to Kenya where its project with the Nairobi Securities Exchange to address the country’s $2.5 billion annual housing finance requirement received $612,000 from the Cardano community.

“The Cardano Summit 2024 demonstrated the real-world impact of blockchain technology across various sectors, from space exploration to sustainable development,” said Laura Mattiucci, Director of Marketing and Communications at the Cardano Foundation.

“The level of engagement and collaboration we witnessed shows the growing maturity of the Cardano ecosystem.”

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