14 Jun 2018

It really broke his heart when his application was rejected three times by the Francistown City Council (FCC) Social Welfare and Community Development (S&CD) office.

All he wanted was to augment the little money that he had to take his bakery business to greater heights, but the one source of funding he had pinned his hopes on turned him down.

After learning about the Poverty Eradication Programme, Mr Lawrence Begani, a seasoned baker based in Francistown, tried his luck to advance his fortunes but he was unsuccessful.

Mr Begani did not throw in the towel, but the married father of five decided to soldier on with the little that he had to make ends meet. “I wanted help in buying a dough mixer and at least two more ovens and display trolleys. It really broke my heart when I was rejected for the third time, but that did not dampen my spirits,” he said.

His baking resume reads like that of those super chefs and there is not a single bread related product that he cannot bake.

In an interview at his mini-bakery on Tuesday, he mentioned that he was all self-taught and had no formal education but vast experience spanning a staggering 32 years.

With so many years in the industry, he has bragging rights of knowing the bakery industry like the back of his hand.

His love for baking started in 1986 in Francistown with a well-known bakery then called Downings, which originated from Zimbabwe. He worked on ‘hand tables’ products, which its dough is kneaded by hands over a special table.

The products he handled then, included learning how to bake hamburgers, French loaves, hot dogs, fancy rolls, Swiss rolls and cream doughnuts.

Within a matter of months at the bakery, he had learned high level confectionery skills, baking sweetened products like candle cakes, muffins, queen cakes, pritz labs and wedding cakes of all kinds.

He narrated a story of how after he left Downings in the late 80s, he worked for a bakery in Serowe called Phuti Bakery, where he found a not-so-organised business with many of the staff not knowing how to use dough mixers or even mix ingredients properly.

From Phuti Bakery, he went to work for Green Acres still in Serowe and from there on, he became a nomadic baker going back to former employee, Downings in Gaborone before it collapsed.

He then got a job in a wholesale bakery in Letlhakane, then came back to Francistown again and found a job at Hot n’Crust for two years. With his main speciality being confectionery, he soon attracted the interest of Meriting that was located in Ngilichi House and before long, Shoprite had snatched him from Meriting.

“I worked at Shoprite for four years and while there I was sent to bakery training in Bloemfontein, South Africa, for three weeks, where I learned more skills on the bakery trade,” Mr Begani noted.

He ended up as a bakery manager at Payless in Gaborone before he retired to open his own bakery business with the little that he had.

Operating at the kiosk market of Block One in Francistown, he bakes scones, tea buns, sponge biscuits, diphaphatha and wedding cakes on order.

“I only have one oven and no dough mixer. I use my hands to mix dough. I just bought a second-hand doughnut frying machine though and I am hoping the doughnuts would add better business for me. I am limited with the little resource I have because even pizzas and pies I can bake if I have the right machines and stock,” he said.

Additionally, he noted that his business, Liberty Bakery was registered with the Registrar of Companies and has a tax clearance certificate but unfortunately, he could not get any supply tenders for government schools because he had been told that such tenders were reserved for Poverty Eradication Programme beneficiaries.

“My dream is to open a bakery in the city centre. I fear no competition from nobody. Even if I can find a shop next to a well-established shop with a bakery, my products would still hold their own because I trust my trade skills without a doubt. Only if I can get funding, then life will be better for me and my family,” he concluded. ENDS