Crowdfunding is a new phenomenon that has piqued the curiosity of academics and practitioners alike, owing to its potential as a source of alternative finance. It is considered a mechanism with significant potential for expanding access to finance for entrepreneurs in developing economies. One such platform in Zambia is known as “Village Banking”. Village banking has been discovered to be the most profitable platform in Zambia, outperforming even traditional risk-free platforms such as micro-financing. Village banking has enabled business growth, idea realization, and has generally improved the lives of many participants. The risks associated with the village banking system, on the other hand, have been increasing. As the popularity of crowdfunding has increased, so have the challenges and opportunities. In this paper we employ a systematic literature review that defines crowdfunding, its properties, discusses the challenges, opportunities of Crowdfunding specifically the Village Banking platform. In addition, we conducted a survey to determine the main challenges faced by Village Banking participants in Zambia. The results of the survey identified the following primary challenges; online infrastructure, trust, monitoring of payments, tracking of collections, and approval of payments. Based on literature reviewed and survey conducted, we proposed the use of blockchain technology to address some of the challenges identified.

The implementation of smart cities globally has been the subject of literature review since the twentieth century. However, the smart city concept has only become topical in the twenty first century, particularly in more recent times. While a lot of cities indeveloped countries have forged ahead with the implementation of smart cities, the same cannot be said about developing countries. Following the 2015 launch of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), among the goals the development of smart cities across the globe, many countries have stalled on the achievement of this specific goal. The 2019 covid pandemic halted the development of smart cities while for those cities that have survived the epidemic, starting the smart city programmes that may have been started before the epidemic has proved a daunting task. This study looks at the challenges and opportunities developing countries have been faced prior to and after the covid pandemic. A systematic literature review was undertaken to consider the said challenges and opportunities, particularly in developing countries. The review has revealed that other problems like climate change have changed the development focus to the extent that smart city development agenda has been hurt and pushed aside. It is evident that the enthusiasm demonstrated in mid-1915s up to 2019 has waned. Any take-up of this programme will require concerted global effort to succeed.

Blockchain is the technology that underlies Crypto Currencies and it is poised to revolutionise current existing business processes and models. Its impact is being felt in many spheres of the financial industry in many jurisdictions around the world. Transactions on the blockchain are validated by a network of participating nodes using proof of work or proof of stake algorithms. Security of the data is guaranteed by the application of cryptographic hash functions. The technology has the characteristic of delivering very secure, transparent and innovative financial products. This study presents a systematic literature review of blockchain technologies and their potential application in the financial sector with the view of identifying open challenges and opportunities that it can address in the Zambian Financial Sector Context. The focus of the study was limited to the finance, banking, insurance, tax, mortgages and fintech sectors. The findings of the research showed that the Zambian financial sector can benefit from applying blockchain in its operations. Key benefits to be derived include tamper-proof customer identity validation, guaranteed security and trust, reduction of operational costs, elimination of third parties in transaction processes, reduced financial risks and reliable data sharing and verification.