Stephen Kwaakye, CEO of SDK Bakes, runs a successful bakery business in Ghana alongside his wife, Deborah. Their bakery is headquartered in the Teshie-Nungua area of Accra, with a second branch at Kasoa’s Tuba Road. The name SDK Bakes comes from their initials: Stephen, Deborah, and Kwaakye.
In an interview with Dj Nyaami on svtv Africa’s daily hustle worldwide show revealed that he once held a prestigious job as a bank manager, believing that studying hard would guarantee financial success. He completed his undergraduate degree, then pursued a Master’s, and even planned to do a PhD in Germany—where all his siblings reside. But despite his qualifications, the financial rewards were underwhelming.
When his wife fell seriously ill, he changed his plans and stayed in Ghana to take care of her. At 35, he realized that climbing the academic and corporate ladder wasn’t yielding the wealth he expected. As a bank manager, he had access to salary records and saw that the wealthiest people were not employees—they were business owners.
This inspired him to pivot. He and his wife decided to start a bread business. They began by reselling popular bread brands from the likes of Foster, A1, and Hot Oven, using a tricycle they bought for GHC 3,000. With an additional GHC 3,200, they started their own bread production—learning to bake from YouTube tutorials. It took Stephen 15–16 attempts before perfecting his bread recipe.
At first, they didn’t rent a shop—they baked at his sister’s house with a single oven. Stephen would sell in the evenings while Deborah handled sales in the morning. With hard work and strategy, they expanded to multiple outlets and now have 39 workers across various locations, including Teshie, Nungua, Ashaiman, Osu, and Kasoa.
Despite the slow start, Stephen eventually resigned from banking after working in the financial sector for 14 years. He now earns significantly more than he did as a bank manager. He has also acquired 6 acres of land to begin a poultry farm, creating even more jobs.
Stephen emphasizes that you don’t need a huge capital to start a business. He advises young people to learn from others, start small, and scale gradually. Initially, they sold other people’s bread to build a customer base before launching their own brand.
SDK Bakes now produces sugar bread, butter bread, and turkey bread. Stephen believes Ghana is full of opportunities, but many people follow the wrong systems. He has even developed his own accounting software to manage the business.
Stephen has been married to his wife since 2003, and they have three children. Their love story began with shared meals and a music album project, and they’ve now spent 22 years together, growing a life and business built on partnership, resilience, and faith.
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