Vivo Energy enters KFC joint venture in East Africa

Vivo Energy, which listed on the JSE in May 2018 and operates petrol stations in Africa under the Shell and Engen brands, has entered into a joint venture to roll out KFC restaurants in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.

The company said on Thursday it had agreed to form a joint venture with Kuku Foods East Africa, which owns KFC franchises in the region.

Vivo Energy CEO Christian Chammas said the partnership would “replicate the KFC joint venture model we pioneered in Botswana and Côte d’Ivoire”.

“Kuku Foods shares our ambition to invest in order to grow the number of restaurants and give more African customers access to the internationally renowned KFC brand,” Chammas said.

The 50:50 joint venture will manage and operate the restaurants on behalf of Kuku Foods, which will remain the local KFC franchisee, Vivo Energy said.

The existing restaurants – 22 in Kenya and eight in Uganda – are in shopping malls, city centres, and service stations.

Kuku Foods plans to open its first KFC restaurant in Rwanda in 2019, Vivo Energy said.

“The joint venture will enable a significant increase in the number of KFC restaurants in the portfolio in the coming years,” Vivo Energy said.

“It is envisaged that many of the new restaurants will be opened at Vivo Energy’s network of service stations across Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, which leverages Vivo Energy’s retail footprint, with more countries to be considered in the future, based on market opportunities.”

Vivo Energy operates about 2,100 service stations across Africa.

hedleyn@businesslive.co.za