Bibliometric Analysis of Crowdfunding and Financial Inclusion in Africa
Keywords:
Digital Financing; Bibliometrix; Digital PlatformsAbstract
This study maps and evaluates scholarship on crowdfunding and financial inclusion in Africa, highlighting the importance of alternative digital finance for households and small businesses excluded from formal financial systems. The paper builds on financial inclusion, crowdfunding, digital finance, and development finance literature, addressing limited bibliometric evidence on crowdfunding as a tool for inclusive finance in Africa. A bibliometric analysis was conducted using 111 Scopus-indexed publications from 2016 to 2025. Bibliometrix and Biblioshiny were used to analyse publication trends, citations, institutional and country contributions, keyword co-occurrence, and thematic networks. Search terms included “crowdfunding,” “financial inclusion,” and “Africa.” The field is emerging, evolving, unevenly developed, and underexplored, with modest scholarly output and an annual growth rate of 17.46%. Southeast Asian institutions and countries, particularly Indonesia and India, dominate the literature, while African institutions remain underrepresented. South Africa contributes only a small share of output. African universities, researchers, policymakers, and regulators should strengthen research programmes, establish dedicated centres, promote collaboration, and support transparent, secure, consumer-oriented crowdfunding regulation. The study offers a focused bibliometric overview of crowdfunding and financial inclusion in Africa and identifies research opportunities in blockchain, decentralized finance, gender dynamics, and cross-country African comparisons.
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