As market women breathe a collective sigh of relief in Ghana, the first country to ease COVID 19–related movement restrictions, evidence of the new normal is everywhere: in mask-wearing, social distancing, and varying days for the sale of different products.

Sectors in which women are twice as likely to work, such as health, social work, hospitality, and food, are the ones most impacted by new protocols on social distancing.

Even if women in eastern, central, and western Africa are mostly employed in the agricultural sector, the vulnerabilities associated with their employment mean that they are in fact the working poor.

For those women in the formal sector, typically in northern and southern Africa, support requires special attention to protection of jobs in manufacturing, tourism, accommodation, and hospitality.

With trade across the African Continental Free Trade Area now imminent, a renewed commitment to "Made in Africa" will bring opportunity and hope to millions of women across the continent.