ATLANTA (Jan. 14) — In its first major push into the African market, Church’s Chicken inked a master franchise agreement with South African-based Steers Holdings, Jersey Ltd., to subfranchise the development and operation of 100 Church’s Chicken units in 19 African countries over the next five years. Steers Holdings, a quick-serve restaurant franchisor in South Africa, has more than 450 branded restaurant locations. The agreement awards to Steers exclusive rights to subfranchise Church’s Chicken restaurants in South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana, Botswana, Mauritius, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Cameroon. The first restaurant is scheduled to open in South Africa by early April 2002.

"Church’s was searching for the right franchise partner to introduce the Church’s Chicken brand to Africa. Steers Holdings has the proven franchising expertise and infrastructure to make Church’s a tremendous success across Africa," said Church’s Chicken president Hala Moddelmog. A subsidiary of AFC Enterprises Inc., Church’s Chicken has more than 1,500 locations worldwide.