Potentials and limits of crowdfunding in Africa

Crowdfunding is an old idea brought up to date by the evolution of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and allows project leaders and companies already in business to be in contact with a community ready to support them. It allows to test concepts within the framework of a market study and facilitates the marketing of innovative products and services. Crowdfunding has become commonplace in many developed countries. But the concept is almost unknown in Africa, although we are witnessing a timid development of its ecosystem. According to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, alternative finance refers to the financial processes and instruments that emerged in the aftermath of the 2008 economic and financial crisis, which led to a certain distrust of the traditional banking system and capital markets. It thus encourages a reappropriation of one's money for the benefit of a real, local economy through the use of tools, most often digital, for financial collaboration.