Pizza Hut Ethiopia will be opening, with the first three restaurants to launch by the end of the year. The first store, in Addis Ababa is anticipated to open for business in November.

After a projected $5.5 million investment, Pizza Hut will become one of the first international restaurant chains to open in the country. Yum! Brands, Inc., the American fast food company owner of the brand has licensed the franchise for Pizza Hut Ethiopia to Michael Ghebru.

Due to strict business regulations in Ethiopia that mandate Ethiopian ownership of restaurants operating in the country, Mr. Ghebru, who will hold an initial stake of 15% of the franchise, partnered with Belayab Foods and Franchise, owned by Mr. Aschalew Belay.

With little existing competition, Ethiopia is an attractive business destination for the Pizza Hut franchise. Although only three stores are projected to open at the moment, the existing franchise agreement actually allows for ten outlets. The franchise owners project a return of about $1.1 million a year from each outlet, which would put estimates at around 2,200 transactions per week in each restaurant – well above the 1,100 of what would be considered a well performing outlet.

Pizza Hut’s entry into Ethiopia comes in the context of a larger expansion plan in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the brand anticipates the opening of thirty more outlets until the end of the year, which will take the current number of stores to 100. Half of Pizza Hut’s operation in the continent is currently in South Africa, with other top performing stores in Ghana and Angola.