19 Oct 2026

In the middle of Botswana lies a town that belongs to everyone. It is not as big as Gaborone, nor as quiet as a village. It is a town you pass through on the bus to Francistown, on the train to Bulawayo, or on the road to Serowe.

For most people, it is a place to leave; for others, it is a place to arrive. At its center is the bus rank, a wide, dusty square filled with the noise of taxis, street vendors, phone chargers, and people shouting destinations. 

It is here, at the bustling Palapye Bus Rank, that Ms Leokwane Moipolai, a 27-year-old from Kodibeleng, and many others eke out a living.

She explained that she used to work in a Chinese shop selling clothes, a job that entailed folding clothing items, sweeping, and standing the whole day. The salary was not enough, there were no days off at month-end, and there was no overtime pay, so she left. 

Ms Moipolai used her savings to start a business. She chose to go into the nail industry and watched TikTok until midnight, not for fun, but to learn more about nail care and new designs like ombré, chrome, and 3D art. She practiced on a fake hand until she got it right.

After that, she started doing nails at home in her parents’ yard in Kodibeleng. She thought that because she loved doing nails, customers would naturally come, but they did not. Some days she would set up her table in the yard and wait from morning until evening without a single client. 

She would practice on herself just to keep busy and pass time. In the village, many girls liked fashion but did not have the money for nail extensions. 

They would only do their nails once for a wedding or during Christmas, and then go months without them. She posted her work on her WhatsApp status, but few people in the village saw it.

Ms Moipolai said she made nominal profit some days and nothing at all during others. That was when she realised that passion is not enough if people cannot find you; she needed to go where there were large crowds. 

She packed her bags, gels, tips, tables, and chairs, and moved to Palapye, where she found a small space by the waiting room. She set up her table without any signboard, using only the photos on her phone to show clients her work.

“Although the first few days were slow, girls started stopping by, students, women working in the mall, and commuters passing through to their destinations, especially at the end of the month,” she told BOPA in an interview. 

Slowly, her business started to grow. Every day she had customers, some days three, others six, and even more at month-end. 

She started making a much better income than the salary she earned at the Chinese shop. She became independent and is now able to send money back home. 

“At the rank, if I don’t work, I don’t eat. But if I work hard, I see the money in my hand that same day,” she said.

Another nail technician, Ms Onkabetse Baredi from Kobojango, said she used to rent a salon space in Francistown, but the rent was too high. 

This brought too much pressure on her because during slow months, the rent remained the same. So, she decided to leave and move her business to the Palapye Bus Rank.

At the bus rank, she does not have rent to worry about anymore. 

Ms Baredi said her business is now growing, and customers find her at the rank every day. School girls, workers, and travelers see her work and instantly decide to get their nails done. 

She said she is now independent, earns her own money, buys her own stock, and does not depend on anyone to pay her bills.

However, Baredi noted that they faced many challenges, such as wind and dust, because the rank was an open space. 

“When the wind blows, dust gets into the nail gel. Sometimes we have to redo a whole set because dust gets trapped inside before the top coat is applied. Harsh weather conditions heavily affect our daily business. When it rains, there is no work at all; we pack up our equipment and run,” she said.

Furthermore, the lack of a proper electricity supply compounds the situation because the Palapye Council prohibits the use of electricity at the rank, leaving budding business people to employ solar panels, which rely on sunlight to be operational. 

Another nail technician, Ms Segopotso Nkololo, shared that even though they faced a lot of challenges, they remained optimistic, stating that the nail business required passion and patience. 

“Some days you will sit the whole day and only serve one client, and other days a client will look at your designs, say, ‘I will come back,’ and never return,” she said. She encouraged the youth, especially young girls, not to depend on anyone, as certain business undertakings did not need a lot of capital to start, just one’s own hands. ENDS