Africa’s fast-food industry is cooking

When it comes to restaurants and fast-food franchises, few industries can keep up with Africa’s hunger for the latest foodstuffs.

By Craig Falck for Africa Report
Photograph: © Viorel Dudau | Dreamstime.com

If you’re thinking about starting a business anywhere in Africa, we’ll give you a tip: do something with food. Africa’s market for fast-food restaurants and other dining businesses has grown in recent years, and it seems that there’s no stopping it.

Firstly, franchises are easy to set up. All you do is hand over the money and they will sort everything out for you. The franchisors will investigate the market, select locations, build the restaurant, train your staff and provide you with all that you need to be a franchise owner. Add to it the fact that meals are cheaper, easier and quicker to make than a meal at home and you’ve got a customer base that will form queues out your front doors. People these days are in a rush during the day. They don’t have time to stand around for even 20 minutes for their meals – walking into a fast-food restaurant, paying and getting a meal in under 5 minutes makes sense. And then there’s the labour pool to dip into – a large portion of Africa’s population is unemployed and this makes for cheap labour in these restaurants.

Other forms of restaurants are also doing well around Africa. There have been an influx of tourists in the last couple of years with a lot of major events and sporting events taking place on our continent. Tourists like to sample the food of the country that they’re visiting, so it makes sense to open a “traditional” African eatery. A lot of businesses are also being conducted in restaurants these days, and with the constant growth that sectors in Africa have experienced in the last few years, upmarket restaurants are popping up all over the place, offering patrons an endless choice of menus.

Restaurants aren’t like normal businesses as they always have a market. As long as they offer the community what they eat (offering a vegan community meat dishes would be pointless, as would offering vegan meals in a meat-eating community). People need to eat and for this very reason, restaurants, especially fast-food chains, should, theoretically, never go out of business. Throw in the fact that Africa’s population is still growing steadily and the market for food simply will not disappear overnight.

When it comes to selling food, Africa is the place to be for opening a business. And it doesn’t matter if you’re offering a 5-star menu or American-style burger or fries, the people must eat. And they’re eating a lot as we speak.