Illustration of two African entrepreneurs smiling at a tablet beside woven baskets and packed boxes, with a warehouse team in hard hats, a container ship and a cargo plane behind them.

Made in Africa. Built for the world.

Lilenek connects African manufacturers and SMEs with buyers worldwide — and takes care of the hard parts: invoice financing, logistics and cross-border operations.

Platform update

Lilenek is moving to new infrastructure and the platform is temporarily paused. See the migration status

  • Marketplace
  • Invoice financing
  • Logistics
  • Growth support

A continent ready to trade

1.3B+

consumers united by the African Continental Free Trade Area

80%

of jobs across Africa come from SMEs

15%

of African trade happens within the continent, versus 60% in Europe

$2T

supplier payment market in sub-Saharan Africa

African SMEs already make world-class products. What they lack is access — to buyers, to financing, to reliable logistics. Lilenek brings all three together.

Great products, locked in local markets

Quality and quantity aren't the problem. The barriers are systemic — and they add up.

  • Market access

    Complex customs, incompatible payment systems and no real-time trade information push costs up.

  • Financing gaps

    Traditional lending doesn't fit the working-capital cycles, export risks and collateral realities of small exporters.

  • Fragmented infrastructure

    Fragmented markets, inconsistent regulations and patchy connectivity hold growth back.

  • Costly payments

    Cross-border payments can cost up to 9% of a transaction's value — well above the 6.3% global average.

From raw material to the world's shelves

Africa doesn't just grow and extract — it processes, manufactures and brands. Lilenek supports every step that turns production into export.

  1. Industrial production

    Produce at industrial scale

    We work with SMEs and manufacturers that transform raw materials into finished goods: flours, cosmetics, textiles, roasted coffee, chocolate.

  2. Marketplace

    Package and list

    Your products go live on the Lilenek marketplace, where buyers across the continent and abroad can find them — with your business verified.

  3. Invoice financing

    Get paid faster

    Invoice financing unlocks the working capital stuck in unpaid invoices, so you can keep producing while your buyers pay.

  4. Operations & logistics

    Ship across borders

    We streamline customs, cross-border paperwork and delivery, so orders arrive reliably — within Africa and beyond.

  5. Business development

    Grow into new markets

    Business development support helps you scale operations, meet buyer standards and compete internationally.

Made in Africa, finished in Africa

The Made in Africa renaissance is about value-added products, not just commodities. These are the kinds of goods SMEs bring to Lilenek.

Illustrative examples.

Illustration of a young founder at his laptop with a clothing sketch, imagining a route across Africa to a textile workshop where seamstresses sew African fabrics.
2019

It started with a supplier we couldn't reach

While building a clothing brand, our founder spent weeks looking for a West African supplier. The suppliers existed. Reaching them, understanding their products, negotiating fairly and receiving orders reliably — that was the impossible part.

Africa's exceptional products were invisible to the very markets that needed them most.

The research that followed was clear: African SMEs make world-class goods, but lack the time, resources and infrastructure to sell beyond local markets. Lilenek was built to change that.

One platform, three ways in

Your gateway to global markets — we handle the complexity.

  • Get paid faster with invoice financing while you grow
  • Focus on what you do best — we provide the platform, logistics and support
  • Reach buyers across Africa and internationally
Illustration of an entrepreneur working on her laptop in a warehouse, surrounded by woven baskets, packed boxes and her team.

Built for the AfCFTA era

The African Continental Free Trade Area is uniting more than 1.3 billion consumers into the world's largest free trade area. Lilenek is built for trade within Africa and exports to the rest of the world.

  • Intra-African trade reached $192.2 billion in 2023, and is set to keep growing
  • New payment rails like PAPSS are cutting the cost of settling across borders
  • Mobile-first and light on data, for a continent that does business on its phone

    Illustrative map of Africa showing the economic capital of every country, linked by a dense network of trade routes, with the major trade corridors highlighted.

    Illustrative map of Africa showing the economic capital of every country, linked by a dense network of trade routes, with the major trade corridors highlighted.AlgiersCairoTripoliCasablancaTunisKhartoumCotonouOuagadougouPraiaAbidjanBanjulAccraConakryBissauMonroviaBamakoNouakchottNiameyLagosDakarFreetownLoméDoualaBanguiN'DjamenaPointe-NoireKinshasaBataPort-GentilSão ToméBujumburaKigaliMoroniDjiboutiAsmaraAddis AbabaNairobiAntananarivoPort LouisVictoriaMogadishuJubaDar es SalaamKampalaLuandaGaboroneManziniMaseruBlantyreMaputoWindhoekJohannesburgLusakaHarare
    Economic capital of each countryTrade routes between African countriesMajor trade corridorsIllustrativeDrag to turn the map, hover or tap a city to see its name

    Made in Africa, shipped worldwide

    Value-added products made on the continent travel far beyond it. Lilenek connects African producers with buyers in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia — and with each other.

    Illustrative globe showing export corridors from African cities to Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East and Asia, alongside trade routes between African countries.

    Export corridorsRoutes between African countriesIllustrativeDrag to turn the globe

    Our goal: make “Made in Africa” synonymous with quality, accessibility and innovation on the world stage.

    The Lilenek team

    Questions, answered

    Everything you need to know while the platform is paused.

    Why is the Lilenek platform unavailable right now?

    We're moving Lilenek to new infrastructure. The platform is paused during the move and will reopen once the migration is complete. You can follow the status on this page.

    What exactly is Lilenek?

    A marketplace that connects African SMEs with buyers worldwide, combined with the services that make cross-border trade work: invoice financing, operations and logistics support, and business development.

    How does invoice financing work?

    Once an order is delivered and invoiced, Lilenek can advance part of the invoice's value, so a supplier's working capital isn't stuck while the buyer pays.

    Who can sell on Lilenek?

    African SMEs and manufacturers with real products and operations — from food processing and cosmetics to textiles and crafts. Suppliers are verified before they go live.

    Do you only handle exports outside Africa?

    No. We support trade between African countries under the AfCFTA as well as exports to international markets.

    We're moving to new infrastructure

    The Lilenek platform is paused while we move it to new infrastructure, and it will reopen once the migration is complete. In the meantime, this page explains what Lilenek does and where we're headed.

    1. Done

      Platform paused

      Access to the platform is temporarily suspended.

    2. In progress

      Migration

      We're moving Lilenek to its new infrastructure.

    3. Next

      Platform reopens

      Lilenek reopens on the new infrastructure.