Baking Centre Uganda, a fast-growing culinary training institution, has announced plans to scale up its operations and establish branches across major regions of the country as demand for professional baking and hospitality skills rises.
Speaking during the launch of the Academy, Webisa Ismael, the General Manager of Baking Centre Uganda Academy, said the institution was established to bridge a skills gap in the baking and culinary industry, where only a small fraction of Ugandans meet international standards.
“Uganda has many bakers, but only about 20% are operating at a professional level,” Ismael noted, adding that the school is working to train bakers who can not only satisfy the local market but also export certified products.
“We have the capacity to train over 1,000 students at a time, and we are expanding. We can handle up to 10,000 learners as we grow.”
Ismael also said the centre has the ambition to promote Ugandan-made baked products beyond the local market, but high taxes on imported ingredients and modern baking equipment remain a major setback.
“We are willing to export, but the taxation on ingredients and equipment makes it difficult for businesses like ours to scale,” he said, calling on government to consider tax waivers for players in the culinary industry.
Dorisa Norah, the Sales and Marketing Executive at the academy, said the school offers professional training in baking, cake decoration, culinary arts, barista skills, and event catering, benchmarking its model on global institutions such as Le Cordon Bleu.
“Our vision is to become Africa’s benchmark for international-standard culinary training,” Norah said.
“We want to raise chefs and bakers who can work in seven-star hotels anywhere in the world. That is why we have affiliations in Nairobi, Tanzania, Dubai, and the United States, where our students complete internships.”
Norah added that the academy aims to open branches in major business centres including Jinja, Gulu, Mbarara and Arua over the next two years, to decentralise access to hospitality skills.
The executives further noted that while Uganda is rich in food resources and spices, the majority of kitchen workers lack professional exposure, leaving top-tier culinary positions to expatriates.
Both executives urged government to reduce taxes on imported equipment and ingredients, arguing that doing so would boost skills development, create competitive local chefs and support Uganda’s food export potential.