E-commerce platform connects young Afghan female entrepreneurs with the world

A locally grown e-commerce platform in Afghanistan is connecting vendors with customers around the world, providing an important opportunity for the war-torn economy and inspiring a new trend of young women starting up their own small businesses.

E-commerce site Click.af started in 2016 to give Afghans access to a domestic online market, and last year began shipping globally, according to its founder Masiullah Stanikzai. The idea behind the expansion was to connect local designers and artisans to a larger base of consumers, he said, mainly Afghans living in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. Twenty-five-year-old Maryam Yousufi jumped at the chance to connect with consumers around the world. She launched a fashion line called Machum on the site a few weeks ago and has received more than a dozen orders for the clothes she designs.