The African Crowdfunding Association (ACfA) is an industry association for crowdfunding professionals in Africa. ACfA was registered on 30 November 2016 as a non-profit organisation based in Cape Town, South Africa, under registration number 181-987 NPO. ACfA’s mission is to foster the development of the crowdfunding industry in Africa. Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising funds from a large number of people who contribute relatively small amounts, typically via a digital platform. Securities-based crowdfunding is the practice of funding a small business by issuing securities to individual investors.
Building on its longstanding relationships with African regulatory authorities, ACfA took a leadership position on regulations for securities-based crowdfunding to help bridge the resources gap that was hindering the industry’s growth. In 2018, ACfA raised capital from FSD Africa (UKAID/DfID) to develop a regulatory framework for crowdfunding in Africa and subsequently evolved into a Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO).
The regulatory framework is known as the “ACfA Label Framework” and may be formally recognised by any African regulatory authority that seeks to develop crowdfunding as a capital markets tool in its jurisdiction. The licence granted by ACfA to crowdfunding intermediaries under this framework is known as the “ACfA Label”. ACfA’s role is to provide active and meaningful support to the African crowdfunding ecosystem so that it becomes a permanent tool of African capital markets.
The organisation is pan-African in its scope and team, with representatives from South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria, Kenya, Sudan as well as Africans in the diaspora. In light of the importance of regional trade for the growth of job-creating small businesses and the impetus of the AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area), ACfA is strongly committed to the harmonisation of regulations for cross-border crowdfunding in Africa.
Furthermore, through a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding with Financement Participatif Afrique et Méditerranée (“FPAM”) and the European Crowdfunding Network (“ECN”), ACfA coordinates its work with these homologous associations which represent crowdfunding in the Maghreb region and the European Union. It is intended that this coordination, together with support from development agencies, will unlock crowdfunding capital flows from the African diaspora in the global North towards the continent.
