Why African-Owned Businesses Matter — and How to Discover Them Worldwide

Walk through almost any major city and you can see African entrepreneurship in everyday life: a family-run restaurant serving food from home, a barber or braider building a loyal neighbourhood clientele, a fashion designer combining traditional textiles with contemporary cuts, a grocery store stocking hard-to-find ingredients, or a consultant connecting businesses across continents.

These businesses are more than places to buy something. They create jobs, preserve knowledge and culture, introduce customers to new products and services, and build connections between local communities and a wider global diaspora. Yet many excellent businesses are still surprisingly difficult to discover online.

African entrepreneurship is part of the global economy

Entrepreneurship plays an important role in job creation and economic activity. The European Commission specifically recognises migrant entrepreneurs as an important pool of potential entrepreneurs, while also noting that legal, cultural, linguistic and administrative barriers can make it harder to start and grow a business.

Connections between Africa and the diaspora can also extend beyond the country where an entrepreneur lives. European and international programmes increasingly focus on diaspora investment, skills transfer, mentoring and cross-border business networks. The European Commission’s Investing in Young Businesses in Africa initiative, for example, includes programmes designed to strengthen entrepreneurship ecosystems and improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses.

The visibility problem: a great business can still be hard to find

A business may have excellent products, years of experience and loyal customers but still be almost invisible to someone searching online for the first time. Information is often scattered across social media pages, map listings, old websites and word-of-mouth recommendations. Opening hours may be outdated. A phone number may have changed. A customer may not even know the business exists a few streets away.

This is where a focused directory can be useful. Instead of asking customers to search through dozens of unrelated results, Liyu is being built around a simple idea: make African businesses easier to discover and give business owners a clear place to present what they offer.

What kinds of businesses can people discover?

African entrepreneurship is far broader than any single category. A useful business directory should reflect that diversity rather than reducing it to restaurants alone.

• Restaurants and food: restaurants, cafés, caterers, bakeries, food trucks and specialty food businesses.
• Grocery and retail: African supermarkets, specialty shops, importers and independent retailers.
• Beauty and hair: braiders, barbers, salons, natural-hair specialists, beauty professionals and cosmetics shops.
• Fashion and culture: designers, tailors, jewellery makers, textile sellers, traditional clothing and contemporary brands.
• Professional services: accountants, consultants, designers, photographers, tradespeople, agencies and other specialists.
• Events and creative businesses: DJs, musicians, decorators, event planners, videographers and venues.
• Community services: organisations and businesses that serve diaspora communities locally and across borders.

Why supporting local African-owned businesses matters

1. Money circulates through real local communities

Buying from an independent business supports the people who operate it, the employees they hire and the suppliers and service providers they use. The impact is practical: a meal, haircut, design job or grocery purchase becomes part of a wider local business ecosystem.

2. Businesses keep culture visible and accessible

Food, clothing, music, craft, language and beauty traditions often travel with people. Businesses give those traditions a public home while also allowing them to evolve. A restaurant can introduce a dish to someone tasting it for the first time; a fashion shop can connect a younger generation with textiles and styles that carry family or regional meaning.

3. Entrepreneurship creates connections across borders

Diaspora entrepreneurs can connect markets, knowledge and relationships across countries. International organisations increasingly study these links not only through remittances, but through investment, mentoring, professional expertise and access to international markets.

4. Better discovery creates opportunities for everyone

Visibility is not only useful for the business owner. Customers save time, travellers can discover authentic local places, communities can find specialised services, and other businesses can identify potential suppliers and partners.

How to support a business beyond making a purchase

Spending money is not the only way to help a good independent business grow. Small actions can improve its visibility considerably. Leave an honest review after a good experience. Recommend the business to a friend who is genuinely looking for that service. Share its page. Follow its official social channels. When you notice incorrect opening hours or contact information, tell the owner or the directory so the listing can be corrected.

For business owners: make it easy for customers to trust your listing

A complete listing is more useful than a business name and address. Customers want enough information to decide whether a business fits their needs before they call or visit.

• Use the exact business name customers see on your storefront or official website.
• Add a working phone number and website.
• Keep opening hours current, including holiday changes when possible.
• Select the most accurate business category.
• Write a short, specific description of what makes the business useful or distinctive.
• Add high-quality, recent photos that genuinely represent the business.
• Keep the city and address accurate so customers do not travel to the wrong location.

Liyu’s goal: discovery without losing the human story

A directory is most useful when it does more than collect names. Liyu aims to connect discovery with context: what a business does, where it is, how to contact it and why someone might choose to visit. The goal is not to separate African-owned businesses from the wider economy, but to make a rich and sometimes under-discovered part of that economy easier to find.

For customers, that means fewer dead ends and more relevant discoveries. For owners, it means another path to visibility. And for communities, it creates a searchable record of businesses that are already contributing every day.

Frequently asked questions

What is an African-owned business directory?

It is a discovery platform that organises businesses connected to African entrepreneurs and communities by category and location, helping customers find relevant local services more easily.

What types of businesses can be listed on Liyu?

Liyu is designed for a broad range of businesses, including food, retail, beauty, hair, fashion, professional services, creative businesses and other useful local categories.

Why should a business keep its directory information updated?

Accurate contact details, opening hours, location and category information reduce customer frustration and make a listing more useful. Current information can also increase the chance that a potential customer takes the next step and contacts or visits the business.

How can I support African-owned businesses?

Buy from businesses that meet your needs, leave fair reviews, recommend good experiences, share useful listings and help correct outdated information. Genuine recommendations are more valuable than generic promotion.

How can I add my business to Liyu?

Use the Add Your Business page and provide accurate information about your business, including its name, location, category and contact details.

Sources and further reading

This guide was researched using material from the European Commission, the International Organization for Migration and Eurofound. Useful background includes the European Commission’s guidance on migrant entrepreneurs and its Investing in Young Businesses in Africa initiative, as well as IOM research on diaspora economic contributions and Eurofound research on ethnic entrepreneurship in European cities.

European Commission — Migrant entrepreneurs
European Commission — Investing in Young Businesses in Africa
IOM — Economic Contributions of Tunisians Residing Abroad beyond Remittances
Eurofound — Promoting ethnic entrepreneurship in European cities