30 Jan 2019

When he lost his job upon the closer of Tati Nickel mine, Mr Lazarus Moroko did not despair.

Instead, the 31-year-old Palapye man dusted himself and devised a way of making a living in order to beat the woes of unemployment.

Instead of seeking employment in other mines with his mining engineering qualifications from the University of Botswana, Mr Moroko converted his skills into manufacturing and repairing egg incubators.

Losing his job was like a blessing in disguise, as he now makes more money than what he earned at the mine although he just started the business with his savings.

The innovative Mr Moroko, who is also a farmer, said in an interview recently that it all started when his egg incubator gave him trouble and was not functioning as it was supposed to. The glitch, he said, led him into researching about fixing incubators on the Internet.

“From the Internet I learnt how to trouble shoot and eventually I decided to design my own incubator,” said Mr Moroko, adding that the invention took six months to complete.

“Two of my friends got interested when they saw what I designed, and they requested me to make some for them which I did without charging them, and the rest is history,” he said.

He said when clients requested him to make incubators for them he obliged, but the catch was for them to purchase the necessary materials for the device.

“The materials were very expensive and were only available abroad, for instance in countries like Singapore, China or Sweden.”
 Initially, Mr Moroko said he assisted his clients in making orders to purchase the parts, but that as time went by he saved enough money to buy parts and sell finished incubators.

He further explained that he used to create incubators using old refrigerators, but stopped as refrigerators were limited in terms of capacity because he had to cut trays according to the size of a fridge.

Mr Moroko said after advertising his business on social media, a massive response followed and that today he had more clientele around the country as well as from neighbouring countries such as South Africa and Namibia.

In a busy week, he said he could make six incubators ranging from those that hold 176 eggs which he sells at P4, 000 and the biggest ones with a capacity of 2 100 eggs which he sells at P18 000.

Mr Moroko, who has so far created employment for two, said most of his clients were chicken breeders and those who imported eggs from outside the country.

He added that although the demand for his products was high, some customers decried high prices.

“It is a difficult situation even for us because materials are purchased at higher prices from abroad,” he noted.

As a way of keeping clients happy, he offers free maintenance as well as free lessons on how to operate an incubator.

However, he said that during the winter season the demand for his products was less as winter was not a chicken breeding season.

Mr Moroko, who said he had a rough upbringing, urged the youth to follow their passion and utilise available opportunities to pursue their dreams. Ends