Bloomberg||McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) is looking at potential new markets in Africa after the world’s largest restaurant chain entered a new Southeast Asian country for the first time in more than two decades.
McDonald’s will look at a number of nations for restaurant locations in Africa, which is expected to be part of the fast-food chain’s future growth strategy, Chief Executive Officer Don Thompson said today in an interview in Ho Chi Minh City.
We’re looking at the opportunities that Africa may yield. We’re in ongoing dialogue to build appropriate relationships on the continent. There’s quite a few countries across Africa we want to look at, but Nigeria clearly is a large country that has opportunity.
The company is looking to developing nations for expansion. The chain posted fourth-quarter profit that was little changed from a year earlier as U.S. same-store sales fell. Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy will expand 6.1 percent this year, compared with global growth of 3.7 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Nigeria’s economy has expanded an average of 8.2 percent annually since 1999, pushing its per-capita income as of last year to $1,725 from $310 in 1999, according to IMF estimates. The West African nation has a population of about 170 million people, the most on the continent.
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