Kentucky Fried Chicken, KFC, has closed its franchise in Botswana rendering over 400 employees jobless.
In a statement issued on Friday by VPB Propco, the company that owns KFC franchise in Botswana, it announced that it would cease operating by next week.
The company says it will engage all stakeholders, adhere to all regulatory and governance guidelines, and work with all employees, as “it wraps up’’.
“Such a step is always for us, a final resort, and during the course of the last 12 months, we worked tirelessly to seek an alternative.
“After much deliberation, however, it is clear that it is no longer feasible to continue operations.
“KFC food chain will close all its 12 branches across the country, after 20 years operating in Botswana,’’
“This is by all means a truly difficult business decision to make, but one that needed to be taken,” it said.
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is a fast food restaurant chain that specializes in fried chicken and is headquartered in Louisville,Kentucky, United States.
It is the world’s second largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald’s, with 14,577 (including 1,388 that are company-owned and 13,189 that are franchised and licensed) outlets in 123 countries and territories (excluding 5,003 locations in China, which is in the Yum! China division, and 372 locations in India, which in the Yum! India division) as of December 2015.