Delicately, Lilian Kiganga spreads a bluish cream on the round cake, then sprinkles it with miniature footballs and a ” Happy birthday “ in gold letters: the next day’s order is almost ready. This pastry chef has neither workshop nor shop. The cramped one-bedroom apartment she lives in with her two daughters in Kariobangi, a working-class district of Nairobi, smells of bubble gum and vanilla. In the tiny kitchen, the shelves are full of springform pans, flavorings and decorative utensils. In the middle of the living room, where sofas and bunk beds coexist, the coffee table serves as a dressing area.
His showcase is his Facebook page, “Maliki Bakers”, with more than 12,000 subscribers, supplemented by an Instagram account of the same name. Its customers can see hundreds of colorful, custom-made cakes, some in the shape of a shirt, a princess dress or a balloon – a sweetness that Kenyans love for special occasions.
“Social networks represent 40% of my new customers, the rest are referralsevaluates the entrepreneur by showing her different accounts. I post four or five cakes each time so as not to tire people. I always give the flavor, Maliki Bakers name, phone number. » Each application has its role: Facebook and Instagram for promotion, WhatsApp for negotiating and finalizing orders (it takes about 2,500 shillings, or nearly 19 euros, for a 1-kilogram cake).
Lilian, then unemployed but with a pastry degree she had never put to good use, got into the business at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the vibrant Kenyan capital was on the cusp. stop. She now sells around twenty cakes each month, which she delivers herself throughout the city. “The bakery pays the rent, pays the food”, the school of the little one and the university of the eldest of her children, she greets with humility.
Very informal character
In Kilimani, a more affluent district of Nairobi, Juliana Busera sells African fabrics from her living room equipped with fiber Internet. In the children’s room, the cupboards are requisitioned to store the waxes, kangas, batiks and other pieces that she will regularly collect in Tanzania, Togo or Ghana, then post to her accounts. Placed against a wall, a large white polystyrene panel serves as a background for the photographs, in order to bring out patterns and colors.
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