It puzzles me that despite having numerous American fast food chains established and successful in Kenya, the biggest and most iconic one isn’t here yet and there are no plans or rumors of them coming here yet, so what could it be?
McDonald’s is currently present in 118 countries, out of the total 195 countries in the world. This means over 61% of the world has McDonald’s. But for us, the time for the golden arcs to shine isn’t coming anytime soon.
The rival chains already in Kenya include KFC, Domino’s, Papa John’s, Pizza Hut, Subways, Coldstone, and Burger King, and with more on the way, KFC is the most successful one yet expanding through every Nairobi neighborhood and even currently establishing on main towns like Nakuru, Kisumu, Eldoret, Kakamega, Machakos and so on.
Also Read: Is Burger King in Kenya REALLY That Terrible?
I know what you are thinking, maybe the economy is not good enough? That’s where you go wrong kiddo. Kenya’s economy is big enough to handle McDonald’s restaurants. Infact some countries with smaller economies have Mc Donalds
The Kenyan Economy
The Kenyan economy is currently ranked 69th in the world (Nice!), and not just the rank, it has been growing steadily, initially, it was stagnant since independence to the ’90s, but from the 2000s onwards, it has seen exponential growth with no signs of slowing down, reference the graph below from World Bank.
Kenyan GDP only slightly dropped in 2023 for the first time in 23 years, thanks alot Zacchaeus.
So the bottom line here is, there are 49 countries with smaller economies than Kenya that have McDonald’s.
So, let’s get one thing straight: McDonald’s went on a global rampage in the 90s, opening up shop in nearly every corner of the globe—except for us, apparently.
While the rest of the world was getting their Big Macs, our economy was stuck in a rut, so it kinda made sense that we missed out.
And let’s be real, McDonald’s hasn’t exactly been on an expansion spree since. Between 2001 and 2024, they only opened in three new countries, compared to the 61 they hit up between 1990 and 2001.
So, yeah, if our economy had been booming back then, we might have had a golden arch or two to call our own.
McDonald’s Has Failed in Some Countries
Remember the line from above, that in 24 years McDonald’s has only expanded to 3 new countries? Yes that is because after the boom in the ’90s, even though big they closed restaurants in some countries, so they are really cautious about launching in new territories, some of the places they closed were due to economic decline, other political
McDonald’s failed in Jamaica for instance and closed all its restaurants, keep in mind that McDonald’s doesn’t run the restaurants themselves, they franchise out to investors.
Jamaica’s issue was due to declined sales, and a series of issues like the residents boycotting the fast food chain for importing meat instead of using locally available one.
Just like we called out KFC for importing potatoes instead of using our own grown.
Read the Article Here: Kenyans once Fought KFC and they Won
The other main reason is that African countries like Kenya struggle to get McDonald’s because of difficulties in tracing its supply chain. For instance, in Ghana, McDonald’s gave them a rain check citing low disposable income.
And back in ’99, Zimbabwe got stood up altogether after their economy collapsed in the 1997 civil war, before that McDonald’s was making arrangements to open up there.
Unlike in developed countries where fast food is just a basic meal in Kenya for instance it is like a luxury, and there isn’t enough disposable income from the population.
Infact while the Kenyan population is big >40M, and McDonald’s has been successful in countries as small as 11M population, 39% of Kenyans live in poverty (I’m in the 39%) just like in most third-world countries, so maybe the Kenyan market isn’t big enough for them yet.
Still, hey KFC is already doing great and it’s not like McDonald’s is more expensive, I guess it is company policy among other things to consider.
Related: Why There is No Starbucks in Kenya, Yet
So Where is McDonald’s in Africa?
So, where is McDonald’s in Africa anyway? Get this, out of 55 countries, they’ve only set up shop in four.
South Africa’s got a whopping 400 stores, Egypt’s got 120, Morocco’s got 80 joints, and Mauritius is chilling with 6.
And when they do decide to bless a country with their presence, they go big or go home with multiple outlets. What you can notice is McDonald’s can’t just open a handful of stores in a country, it justifies a number of them to officially launch, other fast food chains like Papa John’s launched in Kenya with just one location, and are set to expand later on
Now, why the hesitancy in Kenya? Maybe McDonald’s is still mulling over the idea, doing some market research, you know, checking the vibe. I mean, it’s understandable that they’re cautious.
So maybe McDonald’s is doing a feasibility study for several restaurants and that is probably why it seems Kenya does not fit yet.
I mean it makes sense that there’s McDonald’s in South Africa since it is the most developed country in Africa and Morocco. On the basis of population or density, Nigeria should have had locations, I expected the most locations to be in Nigeria anyway, kinda surprised to not see Nigeria with thousands of locations regarding population, and relative purchasing power
Also considering most of the African locations were opened in the 1990s, in existing countries, I don’t think MC Donalds is ready for Kenya yet, their criteria for considering countries to launch in isn’t that straightforward.
Related: Why There is No Starbucks in Kenya, Yet
Meanwhile, we will continue enjoying KFC here which tastes way better than outlets in the US
Read More: The 20 Popular Fast Food Chains in Kenya Ranked.
Read More: The New KFC Kenya Menu Items & Prices: (Updated-2024)
Read More: Papa John’s Pizza Nairobi: Review, Menu & Photos
