The e-commerce initiative which has been launched in Malawi on Thursday will provide women an opportunity to learn, inform and showcase their merchandise across the continent through the internet.

Malawi will benefit from the platform alongside Comesa region member states Zambia and Eswathini for example, and Nigeria and Egypt among other countries, which are also among fifteen out of the seventeen countries that the platform was introduced in, of which nine have already launched it.

Comesa Federation of Women in Business Chapter chairperson in Malawi a Babra Banda has said Malawi has numerous gender gaps that can be dealt with if women have opportunities to explore, hence the initiative that is expected to remove barriers to stop them from achieving anything in business.

Banda said, "the platform is a new lease of life especially in these trying times of Covid-19 where travel restrictions cannot allow them to cross borders. This, therefore, is an opening for them to order or sell online, the platform is a solution."

A young entrepreneur Lily Alfonso believes that nurturing talent in the infantry is the way to go if future generations will strive in business.

"The platform will be best handled and become a success if young ones understand it at a tender age. I am a fashion designer since childhood, and have nursed my talent and grew it to the point of taking my business to international platforms. This is because I maintained and horned my talent, that is what young ones need to do to be top entrepreneurs," she said.

50 million African Women Speak is a digital platform with 38 member states with countries from across Africa.

The platform aims at connecting women in business to facilitate access to training, business management, and financial options.

This platform will help open up market opportunities for women in existing businesses to grown and upscale their businesses, while aspiring businesses will be able to start their business with information and resources shared on this platform.