small.news: January 26, 2026 How Margaret Rofhiwa Nesemare Is Turning Plastic Waste Into Purpose small.storiesBy Kekeletso Nkele, small.news Assistant For Margaret Rofhiwa Nesemare, design was never meant to sit quietly on a screen or shelf. It was meant to challenge systems, question convenience, and create change where it was most urgently needed. A BA Graphic Design graduate based in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Margaret began her career noticing what many overlook: The environmental cost hidden behind packaging, fast fashion, and mass production. Read more → Top Stories Perspective on the 2026 Forecast and Implications for African Small Businesses: small.world Economic Series small.worldBy Hugues Bonshe Makalebo, CEO of Baobab Bank Madagascar The year 2026 is shaping up to be one of cautious optimism for Africa. Economic growth, driven by internal momentum and growing resilience, is projected to reach 4.3% in Sub-Saharan Africa, slightly above the global average of 3.4%. Read more → Southern California SMBs struggling under ICE raids, tariffs: Survey small.deskBy Sierra Campbell, Director of Brand & Content Small businesses in Orange County, California, are feeling “overwhelming economic pain” from President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the ongoing ICE raids, according to a survey from UC Irvine. Read more → Lending to UK Small Businesses Needs to Expand: Labour Backbenchers small.deskBy Sierra Campbell, Director of Brand & Content Senior Labour backbenchers are asking the United Kingdom government to create legislation that will force banks in the country to expand affordable lending to small business owners and those in low-income neighborhoods. Read more → Setting Your Financial Goal: Let’s Talk About Money small.adviceBy Kekeletso Nkele, small.news Assistant Let’s talk about money. For some really fascinating reason, this is the part where anyone who gets stuck building their silv=r™ tends to get stuck. We’ve talked about getting stuck before, and it seems to happen right here. Read more → small.laughs By Dave Zaboski Disclaimer: All resemblances to any persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental and in no way meant to intentionally hurt anyone’s feelings. Keep laughing → Learning Before Leading: How I Built What Didn’t Exist small.opinionsBy Natifa Alexander Romero, Founder of Caribé Fashion Specialist (CFS) “I reminded myself not to measure my journey against other people’s standards. I was building something from nothing—no startup capital, learning as I went.” – Natifa Alexander Romero AI Can Increase Your Small Business’ Scalability: Jeanne Lim, CEO of beingAI small.talkBy Kekeletso Nkele, small. Assistant On Jan 20, 2026, our small.talk series continued with Jeanne Lim, CEO of beingAI. Her conversation with Silver Lining CEO Carissa Reiniger covered leveraging AI to help small businesses. Read more →