News

Yum! Brands eyeing African expansion

December 7, 2010

By 2014, many Africans will know what the Colonel’s Secret Recipe tastes like. Yum! Brands Inc. is hoping to double its KFC unit count – to 1,200 – on the continent by 2014.

The Louisville, Ky.-based company projects that KFC will become a nearly $2 billion brand in Africa within the next four years, and contribute a profit of more than $100 million to the company’s international division.

Yum! Brands’ international division does not include China, which is autonomous.

Yum!’s chairman and CEO David C. Novak told attendees at the investor-analyst conference that Africa has “tremendous opportunity” for the company. KFC already has a 600-unit strong footprint in South Africa, where it has been repeatedly named quick-service restaurant chain of the year.

The expansion plan – which will entail an investment bill of about $500 million – includes openings in Nigeria, Ghana, Angola and Zambia.

Although KFC has continued to affect Yum! Brands’ U.S. sales, the brand is making a splash globally, particularly with imminent expansion plans in the United Kingdom and India.

Yum! Brands, which also includes Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver's and A&W All-American Food, also is anticipating a KFC growth spurt in Vietnam, Russia and Pakistan.

Additionally, by 2015, Yum! predicts its strong presence in China will account for about three-quarters of its profits.