The time is right for Africa’s women micro-multinational entrepreneurs to shine

Read any global socio-economic development report and it will point to women playing a significant role in regional economic integration. But one of the most interesting trends beginning to emerge in Africa is the rise of women micro-multinationals. The digital world has made it possible for women entrepreneurs with small businesses and brands to expand not just in their immediate country markets, but also regionally and increasingly globally.  Online retail has opened up opportunities to connect with wider markets, to build customer bases and distributor networks, and to export the goods and services produced to those expanded markets. This trend is good news for a new generation of women micro-multinational entrepreneurs who are digitally connected to a global marketplace, but who manufacture and produce their goods and services locally. This means that local and national economies in Africa benefit from this approach, as it strengthens global trade and positively impacts communities closer to home. This trend is reflected in the growing number of women entrepreneurs in the Lionesses of Africa community who are successful examples of micro-multinationals and who regularly tap into the Lioness Lean In events in different African countries and Startup Night! Africa events in European cities to connect to new global markets.