Land Registry Blockchain Challenge

Land disputes consume billions in legal costs and lost development across Africa, where 90% of land lacks clear, verifiable ownership records. Families lose ancestral land to fraudulent documents, investors avoid markets with unclear property rights, and banks cannot lend against property that might have multiple claimed owners. Paper records get lost, burned, or forged while centralized databases suffer from corruption and manipulation. Developers must create blockchain-based land registries that provide tamper-proof ownership records, transparent transfer histories, and accessible verification, transforming land from a source of conflict into a foundation for economic development.

The Land Registry Blockchain Challenge calls for developers to create blockchain-based systems that provide transparent, tamper-proof records of land ownership and transfer history. This challenge addresses the massive problem of land disputes, fraud, and unclear ownership that constrains economic development across Africa.

Participants will develop blockchain solutions that digitize land records, create immutable ownership histories, enable transparent property transfers, and prevent document forgery. The system should handle various types of land rights (formal titles, customary ownership, leases), support multi-party transactions, and provide accessible interfaces for citizens to verify ownership.

Successful solutions will ensure data privacy while maintaining transparency, enable offline verification of ownership, integrate with existing land administration systems, and provide dispute resolution mechanisms. The system should be accessible to users with limited technical knowledge and work on basic smartphones.

We particularly value solutions that respect customary land rights, support gradual formalization of informal ownership, provide audit trails for all transactions, and enable fractional ownership for family or community land. The platform should reduce land disputes, enable property-backed lending, attract investment through secure ownership, and empower economic development.