Makini, which was started in 1978 with eight pupils, has performed consistently well in national examinations over the years. The new owners have announced plans to expand Makini beyond its eight schools in Nairobi and Kisumu, underlining foreign investor interest in Kenya’s high-end education.
“The acquisition of the Makini Schools group in Kenya, and securing of a management contract in Uganda, added nine schools, five campuses, boarding facilities and approximately 4,100 students to the division’s enrolments,” Advtech said in the statement.
The South African private education firm plans to further open a school under its Crawford Schools brand from September in Kiambu’s Tatu City, continuing its aggressive expansion drive in Kenya. The Sandton-based firm says the institution will have a capacity of 1,700 students taking the Cambridge Curriculum.
“…The imminent opening of the Crawford International School in Nairobi has resulted in significant progress being made in our strategy of expanding our operations on the rest of the continent,” it said last Monday. Schole runs schools in Africa and already owns Crested Crane Academy and Pestalozzi Education Centre in Lusaka, Zambia and Kisubi High School in Kampala, Uganda. Crawford will admit learners from kindergarten to A-levels as well as offer boarding facilities for senior students.
“Our curriculum is based on a progressive educational approach, which prepares children for the 21st century and allows for development of the global competencies required of students,” Jenny Coetzee, managing director of Crawford International Schools Kenya, said in an earlier statement.
Advtech joined a growing list of institutional investors in Kenya’s private education cashing in on high demand for quality schooling from local wealthy and middle class families and expatriates working for multinationals, foreign governments and global institutions.
Investment company Centum, in partnership with a Dubai-based PE firm Investbridge Capital and the international chain of schools Sabis, has built a 2,000-capacity institution that will admit pupils from kindergarten to high school in Kiambu from September 2018.
The international schools space has recently benefited from a steady growth of the middle class and the large pool of expatriates working for multinationals, foreign governments and global institutions like the UN. The top-of-the-range schools charge annual fees of between Sh200,000 and Sh600,000 for day scholars while those in boarding school pay up to Sh1.7 million a year. They include the German School, International School of Kenya, Potterhouse School, Braeburn, Rosslyn Academy, Kenton and St Andrews Turi.
