KaliCoin

KaliCoin tackles the challenges of financial exclusion and lack of affordable housing options for urban residents in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Kenya and other developing nations in the region. In Kenya, a staggering 79% of urban households live in rental properties, representing a substantial rental income market of approximately $180 million per year. However, a concerning 60% of this population resides in informal settlements or slums, lacking access to adequate housing conditions.

The global housing crisis is severe, with over 1 billion people worldwide living in inadequate housing conditions and a shortage of around 100 million housing units. Traditional financial institutions and credit bureaus fail to consider rental payment histories when calculating an individual's credit score, effectively excluding those living in informal settlements from accessing finance to acquire real estate properties.

Despite having limited disposable income, people residing in these informal settlements demonstrate financial discipline by living within their means. However, they often lack access to financial education opportunities, further perpetuating the cycle of exclusion from formal financial services and home ownership opportunities.

KaliCoin is a decentralized digital wallet and platform built on the Solana blockchain. It provides a suite of financial services and solutions tailored for individuals and communities living in informal housing, particularly in Kenya and other developing nations.

The core component of KaliCoin is a mobile application that serves as a digital wallet, allowing users to securely store and manage their funds without the need for a traditional bank account. Users can receive payments, pay rent, and access various offers from partner organizations directly through the app.

One of the key features of KaliCoin is its alternative credit scoring system. The platform tracks users' rent payment history and other financial behaviors to calculate a credit score. This score can then be used to facilitate access to affordable loans from vetted lenders

When users apply for a loan, they can only use it to purchase low-cost, real estate properties listed on the platform. These properties are sourced from partners who follow affordable and sustainable building practices. Once a property is purchased, it is recorded on the Solana blockchain as a real-world asset, providing an immutable and transparent record of ownership. This can be traded to offer the real estate as a digital asset and create partial ownership of the real-world asset.

KaliCoin aims to bridge the gap between the unbanked population and formal financial services, enabling them to build credit histories, access affordable housing, and participate in the broader economy.

The target population that KaliCoin aims to directly and meaningfully improve the lives of are urban dwellers living in informal housing settlements or slums, predominantly in Kenya and other developing nations across Sub-Saharan Africa. These individuals and communities face significant challenges and are currently underserved in several key aspects.

Who are they?

• Urban residents living in informal settlements or slums, often characterized by overcrowding, lack of basic amenities, and insecure tenure.
• A significant portion of this population relies on informal employment or small-scale businesses, resulting in irregular and low incomes.
• Many have thin credit files and lack collateral, which are prerequisites for accessing traditional financial services.

In what ways are they currently underserved?

• Traditional banks and credit bureaus don’t consider their rental payments to contribute to their credit histories
• Inability to acquire real estate property: Despite having the potential to make regular payments, the lack of access to finance and credit makes it nearly impossible for them to purchase or own real estate properties.
• Inadequate housing conditions: Living in informal settlements often means residing in substandard housing conditions, lacking basic amenities, and facing the constant threat of eviction or displacement.

How will the solution address their needs?

• Alternative credit scoring: KaliCoin’s platform will track and record rental payment histories, allowing individuals to build alternative credit scores based on their financial discipline and ability to make regular payments.
• Access to lenders and affordable housing projects: By establishing partnerships with vetted lenders and affordable housing developers, KaliCoin will create an ecosystem that connects its users with opportunities to access loans and financing for purchasing affordable real estate properties.

Our team follows a human-centered design approach and prioritizes inclusive design thinking principles. Immersing ourselves in the communities we aim to serve, fostering open dialogues, and actively seeking feedback from target users are crucial steps in ensuring that the solution resonates with their needs, aspirations, and cultural contexts.

The fact that our design processes are data-informed and guided by insights gathered from the target population demonstrates a commitment to developing solutions that are grounded in evidence and tailored to the specific challenges and realities faced by the communities we serve. This data-driven approach, combined with inclusive design principles, increases the likelihood of creating a solution that truly addresses the needs of urban dwellers living in informal settlements.

Furthermore, our team's expertise in blockchain development, specifically in the Solana ecosystem, and the ability to integrate with mobile money solutions, positions us well to navigate the technical complexities of building a decentralized wallet for financial inclusion and affordable housing. Having a founder who has received specialized training in the Solana ecosystem is a valuable asset in ensuring that the technical implementation is robust and aligned with the solution's objectives. 

Finally, our founder and some team members are born and bred in Nairobi, meaning they have lived experiences or deep connections with urban informal settlements. This can provide invaluable insights and perspectives that would be challenging to obtain otherwise. Their understanding of the cultural nuances, local dynamics, and specific challenges faced by these communities can significantly enhance the relevance and effectiveness of our solution

We have designed a working prototype of the decentralised wallet using Figma and tested with more that 30 people who fall in our target audience. We are currently developing the mobile app. We also have developed the solana program for credit scoring and we're in the proecss of getting it audited.

Our solution will be piloted in an economy that has no reglatory framework for crypto-based projects. We will really appreciate legal assistance in navigating this landscape in a manner that will be beneficial to all stakeholders involved. 

We will also need technical expertise to offer feedback in blockchain audits and security, to avoid hacks as we'l; be holding critical information about home ownership. 

Our team has a great grasp of the Kenyan market but not in other Sub-saharan countries. We would greatly appreciate help in linking us up with a network professionals who are have experience in these markets at a later stage.

Of course, financial access to help us move this project further will always be welcomed :)

KaliCoin’s innovative approach leverages blockchain technology and strategic partnerships to drive financial inclusion and affordable housing. By partnering with lenders in the Solana ecosystem, it opens up access to finance for urban dwellers, promoting greater financial inclusion. Moreover, digitizing properties as real-world assets on the blockchain enables new models like partial ownership, democratizing homeownership, and new liquidation concepts. Additionally, collaborations with real estate developers using sustainable methods create affordable and eco-friendly housing options.

This comprehensive solution catalyzes positive impacts by inspiring others to adopt decentralized finance, alternative credit scoring, and sustainable housing practices, ultimately reshaping the market landscape towards a more inclusive, transparent, and environmentally conscious future for urban informal settlements.

KaliCoin empowers individuals to build verifiable credit histories based on rental payment data. This immediate output unlocks access to affordable loans from vetted lenders within the ecosystem. With financing secured, urban dwellers can purchase affordable housing units from partner real estate developers using sustainable building practices. Property ownership is digitized on the blockchain, fostering transparency and enabling innovative models like fractional ownership. These outcomes lead to improved living conditions, financial stability, and a pathway to asset ownership for the target population (longer-term outcome).

KaliCoin aims to:

1. Increase financial inclusion by enabling a significant portion of the population living in informal settlements to establish verifiable credit histories through rental payments and access formal financial services through our platform.
2. Facilitate the acquisition of affordable housing units for a targeted number of households, transitioning them from informal settlements to decent living conditions.
3. Contribute to environmental sustainability by partnering with real estate developers who prioritize sustainable and eco-friendly building practices, thereby reducing the carbon footprint associated with housing construction.

To measure our progress towards these goals, we have established key performance indicators (KPIs) such as the number of active users on our platform, the number of credit scores generated, the value of loans disbursed, the number of housing units purchased through our ecosystem, and the carbon emissions offset through our sustainable housing partnerships.

Our solution is an android application that leverages blockchain technology. The mobile app is built using React Native. The blockchain used is Solana due to it's ability to facilitate high transactions per second and super-low gas fees. Every user in the wallet gets a Solana account where they can deposit and send money within the ecosystem at zero-transaction fees. We have developed a Solana program that will facilitate credit scoring of users accounts and a special token called KaliCoin. KaliCoin will facilitate access to lenders, real estate listings and ability to purchase them. The real estate properties will be listed as real world assets and can be partially owned through the KaliCoin token.

One full-time, a developer, and 3 part-time (data scientists, designer and project manager). In total 4 people.

We have been working on this solution for the last 1 year

Our team is made up of local talent who are based in Nairobi, Kenya from diverse ethnic backgrounds. One lady and three gents.

Access the business model canvas here

We are currently discussing a grant from Solana Foundation to support our efforts. Once the MVP is complete and have some meaningful traction, we plan on raising VC funding to scale the project. However, we are keen on sustainable growth by disbursing loans and earning interest on them. This is our long-term vision as most loans will be serviced within a minimum of 2 years.