“We are aware of the growing interests among Nigerians to use Crowdfunding to raise funds. However, that cannot materialise now given the legal challenges as a result of the provisions in CAMA and ISA. But we are looking for ways to go about it so that companies will enjoy the benefits of Crowdfunding in the country as well," said the Director General of the SEC, Mounir Gwarzo, according to a Thisday report.

Nigeria has always had potential that has been repeatedly bottled down by its own "regulations". In this case, one of those regulations is the Companies and Allied Matters Act (1990) and the Investment and Securities Act (2007).

The advantages of crowdfunding are not hard to see. Brilliance and conceptualism is not scarce, but funding/opportunity is.

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There have been lots of people that have come up with great products and concepts but lacked the funds/money to bring them to reality - crowdfunding makes that possibility much more accessible.

In 2016, crowdfunding is usually done via online 'middlemen' platforms such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Gofundme etc.

In the Nigerian context, raising capital as a startup founder can be one of the most challenging obstacles. Apart from Angel investors, and banks - who probably considers such business too risky to invest in - there aren't many options left for the Nigerian startup founder.

Crowdfunding is the solution to this issue in most places in North America, Europe and Asia, but because the SEC does not have any legal leeway for this kind of fundraising, none of that is possible in Nigeria yet.