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The African Crowdfunding Association (ACfA) is conducting a review this week of equity crowdfunding platform Uprise.Africa, the association’s CEO and chairperson of the board, Elizabeth Howard said today.
The association, which is a non-profit organisation that receives grant funding from FSD Africa, represents African crowdfunding platforms and intermediaries.
The review follows an exclusive exposé by Ventureburn last week, in which questions are now being asked about the crowdfunding platform, its head Qadir Tabassum and a R25-million fake pledge made to SA startup Intergreatme (see this story).
In an email to Ventureburn today, Howard (pictured above) pointed out that crowdfunding is largely unregulated in Africa and that the association aims to drive the implementation of appropriate regulation across the continent.
In the absence of regulation, the association serves to protect the industry through the voluntary compliance of its Members with our Charter of Good Conduct, she explained.
She said the association’s review will include a re-assessment of Uprise.Africa’s compliance with the association’s Charter of Good Conduct.
The association would issue a statement following the conclusion of the review, she said.
She noted that Uprise.Africa is a unique platform in Africa in that it is regulated — by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Act.
“ACfA will ensure that its members learn the lessons of this situation, and we may decide to convene media in a discussion around the journalistic coverage of crowdfunding campaigns — especially securities-based campaigns — so that principles of consumer protection are respected,” she added.
Said Howard: “It is critical that this industry evolves in a regulated way in order for it to serve the broader investor and entrepreneur ecosystems effectively”.
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