UAE: Crowdfunding savings platform launched based on Jam’iya system

UAE: Crowdfunding savings platform launched based on Jam’iya system

Several people decide to pool their money for an agreed period, one gets to take the pot home

Published: Tue 23 Aug 2022, 2:49 PM

A young Emirati entrepreneur has launched a crowdfunding savings platform that hopes to empower women of all ages and income brackets towards financial prosperity by making micro-investments in real estate.

Latifa bin Haider, the founder of Bayutki, said she created the platform on the principles of the pre-existing Jam'iya system. Like a chit fund, the Jam'iya system is where several people decide to pool their money for an agreed time, and one gets to take the pot home at the end of said time.

“My grandmother’s advice was my inspiration – ‘Save your money, buy gold, and when you have enough saved up, buy land. Her words set things in motion, and the idea of Baytuki came to me,” Latifa told Khaleej Times. “What started as a personal journey for me became an opportunity to support women in the Emirati community,” she added.

Latifa said she spent a lot of time speaking to women in her community to try and understand why their participation in various investment classes was so minor compared to men.

“There were many common reasons – insufficient