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Burger King Opens First East African Outlet In Kenya

Burger King Opens First East African Outlet In Kenya

Burger King, the world’s second biggest fast food chain after McDonald’s, opened its Kenyan outlet on Monday, becoming the latest international food provider to enter the East African nation seeking to capitalize on its fast growing middle class population.

“We are thrilled to introduce the Burger King brand in Kenya and look forward to giving our guests the opportunity to experience the great-tasting and high-quality products,” Business Daily quoted Daniel Gonzalez, the food chain’s head of marketing for Europe, Middle East and Africa, saying.

The outlet is located at The Hub Shopping Mall in the capital’s suburb of Karen and will be owned and operated through a franchise agreement with NAS Airport Services Limited, the third largest airline catering and logistics services provider in the world owned by Servair of Air France.

The Karen outlet adds to the existing branches in Egypt, South Africa, Morocco and Ivory Coast. The food company that has been operating since 1954, has 15,000 locations spread in more than 100 countries globally, Capital FM reported.

Several international fast food chains are located within Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) or major shopping malls within the leafy suburbs like Upper Hill, Westlands and Karen.

Burger King’s outlet at Karen follows Subway, a sandwich chain that has a branches in the CBD and the Gigiri suburb that is home to the United Nations Installations, hosting the international diplomatic community.

Hardee’s, an American burger chain opened its outlet at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport last month, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has several branches in the capital, ice cream maker Cold Stone Creamery opened its store early this month while Domino’s Pizza started operations in Nairobi in November 2014.

Kenya has one of the fastest growing middle class population in sub-Saharan Africa, with about 20 million people, according to data by the National Bureau of Statistics.

This has attracted investors into the nation, to cash in on the growing purchasing power and also use the nation, considered the region’s economic hub to penetrate into neighboring markets.

East Africa’s biggest economy also has the fastest growing retail market in Africa. It has grown by 67 percent in the last five years as consumer spending keeps rising, according to Oxford Business Group.