Abstract:

Governments all over the world have identified the importance of entrepreneurship in economic development and in the improvement of the standard of living of the people, hence the increased effort to support and encourage them by tweaking their regulatory frameworks to accommodate such financing innovation as crowdfunding. This paper examined an innovative new model of providing funding to projects and businesses. The paper adopted a conceptual view to explore the drivers and challenges of crowdfunding as an alternative means of entrepreneurial financing in Nigeria. Based on the conceptual, empirical and theoretical review, it was  discovered that the major drivers of the substantial growth in the crowdfund space worldwide is the growth and development of information and communication technology especially the internet which have facilitated the use of social media for just anything.This is because crowdfunding uses web-based technology to drive financing of  entrepreneurial ventures  such that Nigeria and other African countries could leverage the power of technology especially the social media to market idea, raise seed and growth capital.It was also discovered that, despite the huge potential of crowdfunding as an alternative means of financing entrepreneurial ventures globally, the African continent and indeed Nigeria have not fully keyed into it due to lack of  clear regulatory framework. Therefore, a clear legal and regulatory framework is necessary for the much needed growth and development of crowdfunding as alternative means of financing entrepreneurial activities in Africa and in Nigeria in particular.