KFC has 1,000 outlets in sub-Saharan Africa
KFC has opened its 1,000th restaurant in sub-Saharan Africa 45 years after opening its first in South Africa. The 1,000th restaurant is located in Lemo Mall in Bloemfontein.
According to Cape Business News: “The world’s most popular chicken restaurant chain has presence in over 125 countries and territories with more than 20,000 restaurants across the globe.”
“We are thrilled to be celebrating this significant milestone for KFC which emphasises our growth and expansion strategy in sub-Saharan Africa” says Doug Smart, Managing Director, KFC Africa.
As the largest QSR in Africa, KFC is famous for its hand-breaded chicken freshly prepared instore, using the Original Secret Recipe of 11 herbs and spices developed in 1940 by Colonel Harland Sanders (pictured right)
KFC’s solid footprint in South Africa began in 1971, in Orange Grove, Johannesburg, where its first restaurant opened, giving KFC a 45-year history of successful operation and setting the foundation to enable ventures into the rest of Africa. Its successful track record in South Africa has been proven with KFC scooping the Sunday Times Top Brands Award for ‘Most loved fast food brand’ 18 years in succession.
KFC’s journey into the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa started in Namibia, then moving into countries such as Nigeria and Botswana. The brand has presence across 16 countries with restaurants in markets such as Swaziland, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Uganda and Tanzania. The business’s customer-led approach has resulted in the brand being the leader in its category, with an on-going commitment to creating deeper relationships with its diverse range of customers.
According to the World Economic Forum, the African continent has been managing an average real annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 5,4% from 2000 to date – adding US$78bn annually to the GDP. In addition, the International Monetary Fund forecasts that Africa, in the midst of the current global economic slowdown, will be the second-fastest growing region in the world between 2016 and 2020, with an estimated annual growth of 4,3%. It makes sense then that KFC’s growth agenda will mainly be driven by new market entries as well as expansion in existing markets on the continent.
