Crowdfunding in Nigeria has walked a long, uneven road, one that has seen bright promises, bitter losses, and the cautious hand of regulation.
For years, Nigerians desperate for alternative investments poured billions of naira into platforms dressed up as innovation but built on shaky foundations.
Many of these collapsed like the Ponzi schemes they were, leaving investors with nothing.
One of the most recent examples is Crypto Bridge Exchange, which promised Nigerians returns of up to 100% in just 30 days through digital asset trading. By April, withdrawals were restricted, and soon after, users discovered their balances had been wiped. The platform collapsed, leaving thousands unable to access their funds. Losses are estimated at about N1.3 trillion, though the exact recovery remains unclear.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as far back as January 2021, issued rules establishing Nigeria’s first regulatory framework for crowdfunding. The rules defined who could raise funds, how much they could collect, and the safeguards required for investors. Platforms were expected to register as crowdfunding intermediaries, disclose their operations, and operate within set limits.
Today, only a few platforms carry the SEC’s approval to operate. They represent a narrow but significant slice of the financial system, one built not on promises of miracle profits, but on the steady rules of disclosure, limits, and accountability.
These are the firms carrying the weight of proving that crowdfunding in Nigeria can be trusted. And at the center of it all are the CEOs, men whose choices will determine how far this young industry can go.
Here are the owners of Nigeria’s SEC-approved crowdfunding platforms
Ikponmwosa Izedonmwen is a seasoned finance professional with over 25 years of experience spanning corporate finance, investment banking, and manufacturing.
He began his career at Procter & Gamble in 1994 as a financial analyst before moving to Citibank in 1999, where he worked on energy, construction, telecoms, and infrastructure financing.
He later joined First Bank of Nigeria as a manager in project finance, before taking up senior roles at FBNQuest as Vice President in Project and Structured Finance. In 2010, he moved to Notore Chemical Industries as General Manager, Corporate Finance, overseeing treasury, corporate finance, and planning functions.
From 2014 to 2019, he served as General Manager at FSDH Merchant Bank, where he led the Investment Banking Group with responsibility for financial advisory, M&A, capital markets, structured finance, and oversight of FSDH Securities Limited.
He then became Director at Verdant Capital between 2019 and 2022, a pan-African advisory firm specializing in specialist funds, debt capital, restructuring, and cross-border M&A. Currently, he is a partner at Olivegreen Advisory Partners, based in Lagos.
Izedonmwen holds a first degree in Biochemistry from the University of Benin. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and has successfully executed numerous project finance, capital market, and M&A transactions across West Africa.