Algeria's first KFC experiences a hectic opening (2024)

The first KFC restaurant in Algeria, inaugurated with great fanfare on Sunday, April 14, in Dely Brahim, in the western suburbs of Algiers, sparked a heated debate on social media on its opening day. While a crowd of fried chicken lovers crowded the counter, pro-Palestinian activists gathered outside the building to call for a boycott of the chain, accused of supporting Israel. Closed for two days, the fast-food restaurant eventually reopened, but no longer displays its famous logo.

"It's the shaky compromise that seems to have been struck, between anti-imperialist Algerians who accuse the brand of supporting Israel's war against the Palestinians, and trendy middle-class Algerians, very happy to have their KFC on the spot at a time when visas to Europe are becoming difficult to obtain," said a journalist, with a touch of irony.

The authorities, who do not tolerate street demonstrations, ruthlessly dispersed the rally. Some sources suggest the protest was orchestrated by a small pro-power Islamist party, the El-Bina Movement, led by Abdelkader Bengrina – who has not claimed responsibility for the protest. "I don't know if this is the case, but the demonstration was made up of around 40 women in hijabs, supported by a few men," said a witness.

'Casus belli'

The arrival of KFC in Algeria – one of the few African countries without an international restaurant chain – was announced as early as June 2023. Authorized to set up, the company even launched a recruitment campaign on social media. At the time, the objections expressed online were not political. "They sell chicken and French fries, so their main raw materials are vegetable oil, potatoes and chicken – in other words, the three products whose prices fluctuate the most on the market," said one internet user at the time.

But the violence of the Israeli response in Gaza turned KFC's arrival into a casus belli, a controversy that swelled to the point of ridicule. "Some enlightened minds are convinced that closing a KFC in Algiers will have more impact than an attack by 200 drones and 50 missiles," said one internet user, referring to the attack carried out by Tehran after a deadly strike attributed to Israel on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

However, this is not the first time the American brand has been targeted. Around 50 people were arrested in Pakistan on March 30, after a violent mob chanting anti-Israel slogans ransacked and set fire to a KFC in the northeastern city of Mirpur, in the Islamabad-administered part of Kashmir. According to the police, some of the demonstrators belonged to the Tehrik-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), an Islamist party behind violent anti-French demonstrations in 2020 and 2021.