The report’s authors identify Malaysia, UAE, Lebanon and Egypt as early movers in this space based on the recent establishment of crowdfund investing platforms in these markets. Jason Best (@CrowdCapAdvisor), Principal at Crowdfund Capital Advisors and a co-author of the report adds, “These are still early days for crowdfund investing. Large economies with high social media penetration such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Indonesia may have the most to gain from this opportunity. We hope policy makers, regulators and investors will take note of this opportunity and consider this new asset class to enhance current efforts to train and support entrepreneurs in their markets.”

The report outlines an effective action plan for governments interested in facilitating crowdfund investing in their domestic markets, which includes:

• Assessing gaps in current job creation and entrepreneurship programmes;
• Creating an enabling regulatory environment;
• Co-developing platforms alongside the private sector;
• Capacity building for crowdfunding, investors and entrepreneurs; and
• Integrating crowdfunding with existing initiatives and projects.