Leila

A fashion designer by training, Leila Salifou has been involved in the catering business for several years now.

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An only daughter, she decided to continue her mother’s business, leading her to take over her mother’s restaurant after her training. But she felt as though something was missing, like a sauce that needs an extra pinch of salt. This was the secret she learned in the Personal Initiative training, which for her was a little like teaching a person to fish rather than giving him or her the fish. It opened her eyes and enabled her to move out of the informal sector.

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“Before this training, I had a small restaurant. Like so many other good ladies along the side of the road, I sold foufou. But after the Personal Initiative Training, I did some further training in catering and then registered my business at the Centre de Formalités des Entreprises to obtain my official economic operator’s card. It was the training that made me see that I needed to change, to move out of the informal sector in order to develop my business. I was able to print advertising brochures, which I distributed to various businesses. Today, if people need a catering service, they contact me directly. If I had not had this training, I would have always been one of those good ladies along the side of the road. Now I’m sure that I am building a lasting business that my children and grandchildren will be able to take over when I’m no longer there,” she says.

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Leila is now an accomplished economic operator who is asked to prepare luncheons for training seminars in ministries and other organizations in Togo. She believes that she can grow her business enough to one day cater to heads of state. To realize her dream, she is building a recreation center that will include a restaurant, bar, VIP space, banquet room and, most importantly, a cooking school to train the next generation. Her ambition is to train young women in the preparation of typical Togolese dishes and to export them around the world. She has also started a small side business that offers guided tours.