Crowdfunding as an Alternative Entrepreneurial Financing Scheme in Ghana: A Narrative Review
Mustapha Bin Usman
*
Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana and Nursing and Midwifery Training College, Tepa-Ashanti, Ghana.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Research Gap: While extant research on crowdfunding is prevalent in developed economies, a significant knowledge gap exists regarding its feasibility and implementation in the context of developing nations like Ghana.
Purpose: This study assesses the feasibility of crowdfunding as an alternative entrepreneurial financing mechanism in Ghana by examining, among others, the critical barriers of public awareness, social trust, and regulatory readiness.
Methodology: An integrative review method was applied, synthesising the findings of 68 selected sources, including journal articles, reports, and books, published between 2002 and 2022.
Findings: This analysis shows that the feasibility of crowdfunding is limited by low levels of public awareness and three major barriers: (1) a deep deficit of social trust caused by sufficient fears of fraud and cybercrimes; (2) underdeveloped regulatory frameworks and institutional capacity; and (3) technological infrastructure constraints.
Practical Implications: A conscious collaboration between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Bank of Ghana (BoG) is recommended to have a robust, flexible regulatory framework that must protect funders, give power to entrepreneurs, and, in effect, stimulate the ultimate adoption of crowdfunding as one facet of Ghana's entrepreneurial financing paradigm.
Originality/Value: This paper provides a new, holistic approach to analysing the Ghanaian crowdfunding environment, going beyond the assessment of isolated challenges and instead viewing them from the systemic lens of interconnection. It provides timely, contextual knowledge for policy actors. It argues that unless there is a concerted effort to build trust, create enabling regulations, and invest in infrastructure, the true potential of crowdfunding will never be realised. It presents timely insights to policymakers and lays the foundational framework for steering future empirical investigations into digital alternative finance in emerging economies.
Keywords: Crowdfunding, entrepreneurship, start-ups, equity, debt crowdfunding, fraud, cybercrime, regulation, social trust, alternative financing