Companies in Africa are establishing their presence in the metaverse’s real estate market through a platform that Africarare is developing. The platform is now expected to have over a billion users.
The metaverse platform named Ubuntuland houses what has been termed Africa’s “first digital domain,” a 3D virtual reality hub.
Inspired by traditional African architecture, the Ubuntuland platform consists of 204,642 plots of land of varying sizes, according to Everything Property. The prices are arranged in different village clusters.
Big names take the lead
Virtual land on the platform is reportedly currently priced at 0.1499 ether (ETH) on the OpenSea NFT marketplace for a plot, which, according to news24, is equivalent to about R4,500 ($242) at today’s prices per plot. Some big names have already purchased digital real estate on the platform.
These include Nedbank, which is South Africa’s fourth-biggest lender by assets, according to Bloomberg. The financial services firm bought itself a “village” on the platform where one can purchase, sell, and rent property coupled with other digital assets.
“Our entry into the metaverse is not merely about having a presence in this space; it’s about meeting the needs of our clients on platforms that resonate with them while offering an array of touchpoints that continue to demonstrate our commitment to lead in digital,” Khensani Nobanda, Nedbank’s executive for marketing and corporate affairs, told Business Insider.
Primedia has also purchased villages on Ubuntuland, with MTN buying 144 plots of real estate. Another company that has claims in Ubuntuland is the South African advertising agency M&C Saatchi Abel.
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AI tools on the platform
According to Africarare CEO Mic Mann, the platform is also vying to provide an array of AI tools. Apart from entertainment and art galleries, it has the capacity to host meetings of up to 15 participants in the Ubuntuland meeting room.
Mann indicated Ubuntuland also launched a marketplace on the platform, which enables people to trade digital and physical products “through the sale of NFTs,” while physical products can be sold by being linked to an NFT.
“We have done a pivot recently because of the AI revolution that is going on,” said Mann.
“People can connect to this global digital economy through this next iteration of the internet by taking the flat internet and turning it into three dimensions,” he added.
Connecting a billion people
While users on Ubuntuland will have the opportunity to socialize, trade, and get entertainment on the virtual 3D platform, Mann wants to expand the reach. The target is to connect over a billion people in the Ubuntuland metaverse.
But there is more to it than entertainment. MTN Group Marketing Executive Bernie Samuels highlighted the need for Africa to join the metaverse as it possesses loads of opportunities.
“The metaverse holds a wide array of opportunities to further enhance and showcase African innovation, and we are excited to be pioneers of this journey on the continent,” said Samuels.
According to a news24 report, Africarare CEO Mic Mann said the platform will transform the internet into a 3D platform.
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