As KFC Africa's first Black general manager and first female general manager, Akhona Qengqe, has recently taken significant steps to promote women’s inclusion in franchising. She talks to GLAMOUR about her role and the initiatives she is carrying out.
Congratulations on your role as the general manager at KFC Africa, what are your top strategic priorities?
KFC Africa is the largest and fastest growing QSR brand in Africa, with more than 1,400 restaurants across sub-Saharan Africa (the majority are in South Africa), so there are lots of moving parts, and I’m fortunate to have the support of a highly capable team.
Growth is a key priority for us as a business. This year we are opening 100 new restaurants across our 22 markets. Each new KFC restaurant not only provides about 35 direct jobs, but also gives us opportunities to develop other businesses and expand supply chains, which has a positive impact on the communities where we operate.
I feel a strong sense of responsibility about the role we play in the lives of our communities and our people. I’m particularly passionate about the inclusion of women in growing our economies , and I’m proud that well over half of our team members are women. We take gender equality seriously at KFC, and this means understanding the issues women face, and being ready to respond to those with the utmost care and speed.
It also means giving women opportunities as leaders and bringing them into key decision-making roles so that their voices and views are represented in a meaningful and impactful way.
I recently celebrated my second anniversary in the general manager’s office, so I don’t really feel new in the job any more. But I do feel as if I’m just getting started. There are still so many opportunities to unlock and I look forward to what the future brings.
How do KFC’s diversity and inclusion strategies impact the company culture and its employees?
Before taking over as general manager I was director of transformation and diversity, then chief people officer, so I’ve been on the inclusion journey for many years, and I often say that driving the inclusion of women in growing African economies is one of my life’s purposes.
I recognise the responsibility that comes with the opportunities I have been given. As KFC Africa’s first black general manager and first female general manager, I realise that for most of our teams I represent hope. And I am committed to honouring that.
This manifests itself in numerous ways, such as the flagship project ‘Women on the Move’, a 12-month programme I launched in 2021 to develop KFC’s future female leaders. Four years later, one of the outcomes is that 60% of our restaurants across Africa are run by women.
In the past few months I’ve taken things a step further by launching an external network, Women in Franchising Africa (WIFA), to increase women’s inclusion in franchising by providing them with education, mentoring, opportunities, and the support of other women in the sector. This network extends beyond KFC and its intent is to make franchising accessible to as many women on our continent as possible.
What is the Women on the Move programme, and how does it empower women at KFC?
Every year, we select a limited number of women within KFC for the 12-month programme which combines formal training, personal development interventions, mentorship and peer learning circles, all aimed at identifying and developing KFC’s future leaders.
We equip women with the tools and resources that will help them leverage their innate leadership qualities and drive a high-performance culture within our business.
Our ethos is around paying it forward and so the graduates of one year’s programme become leaders of the programme the following year, and it’s been wonderful to see potential being unlocked and careers taking off as a result of Women on the Move.
It doesn’t end there, WOMXN was created as the extended network of Women on the Move to create a community of belonging for women working together towards ensuring gender inclusion and transformation.
After 17 years in the franchise industry, how do you perceive the current trends for women in franchising?
One of the challenges we face worldwide is that while franchising delivers high growth and attracts ample funding, with women making up the majority of front-facing team members, only 25% of franchisees worldwide (and even fewer in Africa) are women. That’s why I founded WIFA.
The approach is similar to Women on the Move in that we want to provide women with education, mentoring, opportunities, and the support of other women in the sector.
WIFA offers several formal training programmes in partnership with the Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence and the University of Louisville, Kentucky, and scholarships are available for WIFA members.
I’m confident that the outcome of WIFA’s efforts will be a growing number of women franchisees who run sustainable businesses and build generational wealth.
What are the key lessons from your transformation journey?
The main lesson is that a collective effort is more powerful and effective than a lot of small individual strides. If we can strengthen our collaborative efforts as women, we can achieve so much together.
Women on the Move has been so successful that it’s spawned an extended network which brings together women at all levels in the company – both local and global – and gives them the opportunity to share experiences, lessons and challenges, and create growth networks.
The halo effect on our women team members across Africa has been amazing. Seeing women who look like them undertaking a transformational journey and moving into leadership positions inspires their own ambitions.
WIFA’s inaugural event in March 2025 was a breakfast in Johannesburg with the theme ‘The Network Multiplier’. Again, it emphasised that women become stronger when they work together. And importantly, it featured speakers who have succeeded in franchising and become inspirational role models. One of the key lessons I’ve also learnt is the idea of paying it forward. Both of these programmes do exactly that.
How do you encourage strategic thinking and innovation in your leadership team?
The first thing is creating the right environment. That starts with encouraging open communication in which members of the team can share bold and unconventional ideas and challenge the status quo without fear of judgment. This is particularly important in Africa, with its rich cultural mix. Our menu isn’t the same in every African country, so why should everything else we do be the same?
Next, it’s important to ensure that the leadership team are co-creators of the company’s vision, mission and strategic goals, as well as its processes and practices. This builds buy-in and galvanises the team behind a common agenda, meaning we make progress much more quickly. Having said that, it’s also vital to encourage the leadership team to continually challenge our assumptions about the business, the market and the competition and to remain adaptable to respond to any changes in our environment very quickly.
Finally, I try to lead by example, and key to this is demonstrating strategic thinking in my own role, championing innovation, and giving members of my team the autonomy to explore new ideas and take ownership of strategic initiatives.
What advice would you give to aspiring female leaders looking to enter or advance in the franchising arena?
This is an exciting time to be a female franchisee in Africa! The launch of WIFA means it’s suddenly much easier to find the training, mentoring, finance and support that you need to turn your dreams into reality.
Many African women have limited access to networks that can help them scale their businesses, and WIFA is a deliberate intervention that seeks to change that reality in franchising.
We want to transform women franchisees’ participation in the economy in a meaningful and sustainable way, supporting them as they learn from each other and from women who have already walked this path.
How did your experience with the Franchise Association of South Africa align with your goals at KFC?
I no longer serve on the FASA board but being part of the association about four years ago helped me become clearer in terms of the role KFC could play as a large franchisor in Africa. The franchising sector contributes at least 15% to SA’s GDP, and this means big brands like KFC can have a significant impact on our economy.
What role do mentorship and leadership development play in your strategy to uplift women within KFC and beyond?
If you want to see someone who has benefited from mentorship and leadership development, look at me. It’s because I’ve benefited so much from being coached and mentored by great leaders that I’m determined to offer the same opportunities to others.
Great mentors and leaders bring out the best in others, and it can be just as rewarding for the mentor as for the mentee. That’s why I encourage all leaders at KFC to get involved in developing the potential of the team members they work with.
One of the really gratifying results of our leadership development is seeing talented people leave Africa to work for KFC elsewhere in the world. What a great experience that is for them, and it works for us too: ultimately, we will bring them back to benefit our continent with the skills and experiences they’ve gained elsewhere.
Your quote and book that inspires you?
Quote: You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take! By Wayne Gretzky
Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo
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