From school student to confident business woman: How I turned my love for baking into a thriving business

4 minute read

I am Faudhia, an entrepreneur living in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I am originally from Kilombero District, where I was supported through lower secondary school by CAMFED. As a child, my biggest dream was to complete school. I believed that through education, I could gain employment and earn money to help myself, my family, as well as my community.

Upon graduating from school in 2010, I joined the CAMFED Association — the pan-African network of women leaders educated with CAMFED support — becoming an active member. 

After school, I relocated to Dar es Salaam to pursue higher education, and was elected as the Treasurer for the CAMFED Association chapter there. As Treasurer, I manage the chapter’s philanthropy funds and work with my fellow elected CAMFED Association leaders to plan our community activism to support more girls in school. 

When I was at college earning a diploma, I started working at a bakery to pay my way. I was not paid in cash, but instead given 10 loaves of bread each day that I would resell, and save a portion of the profits. I would also make freshly baked goods at home like samosas and sell them to the other college students. Working at the bakery improved my culinary skills and helped me develop an entrepreneurial mindset. I graduated from Tanzania Public Service College in July 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in Records Management.

In 2022, I officially launched my bakery business, called Raisibei Cakesbites — producing quality cakes, bread, cookies and more — using my personal savings and an interest-free loan from CAMFED’s Revolving Investment Fund (RIF). My most popular products are chocolate cakes, bread, samosas, and potato, cassava and banana crisps. I pay ‘social interest’ on this loan by volunteering as a Learner Guide at a secondary school in my neighborhood. 

In my Learner Guide role, I lead My Better World life skills and wellbeing sessions to help students thrive both in and outside of the classroom. I am also on the look-out for children in my community who are out of school. I have helped six girls who had dropped out of school continue their education. Five of them are now pursuing vocational studies* and one has re-entered mainstream education.

When I pay back my loan, the money will be recycled to fund other CAMFED Association members’ loans and support even more fledgling or growing businesses. 

Through CAMFED, I benefited from business training and advice from a Business Guide named Scola. Business Guides are young women in the CAMFED Association with skills and passion for enterprise, who help their peers start and grow successful businesses. Scola helped me develop my business plan and coached me in key areas like financial management, record keeping, and marketing. She also helped me navigate some of the challenges I faced in my first year of business like the rise of costs in production. 

Due to a difficult economic climate, I experienced the price of basic ingredients like margarine doubling and some of my decorating materials increasing in price significantly. To prevent losses, I had to increase product prices which led to me losing some customers. At this difficult time, I was very glad of the support of my fellow CAMFED Association sisters who rallied around me to encourage me and support my business. 

CAMFED’s District Business Committee (DBC) members — volunteers who support entrepreneurs to launch, grow and sustain businesses, and connect them with new opportunities and markets — have also supported me by helping me officially register my business name at the Business Registration and Licensing Agency in Tanzania. 

Raisibei Cakesbites is now doing very well and is popular in my community. I am able to support myself using my business profits, as well as re-investing funds to improve and grow the business and pay off my loan. I also employ one female employee in my business, helping her to support herself and her family. Recently I obtained a business license and tax number, both of which will help further officiate my business and allow me to apply for funding and loans in future. 

I am very passionate about supporting other young women to succeed in education and in business. I have supported a tertiary student with her university fees and provided a girl at secondary school with school supplies. I also enjoy passing on my practical skills, and have trained 15 of my fellow CAMFED Association sisters in baking and how to operate a bakery business. 

This year I have big goals for my business. I aim to formalize my business further to gain access to a wider customer base, and I plan to rent a space and buy additional equipment to expand production. In future, I hope to utilize my degree by getting a job in records keeping management, but I also want to grow my bakery business and open multiple stores across Tanzania. 

*An alternative to the main academic school pathway in Tanzania