As trust in public schooling struggles to keep up with rapid economic growth in many African countries, African international schools are shifting their focus from expats to local high income earners, according to education investor AdvTech.
AdvTech CEO Geoff Whyte said the upper end of many African countries was underserved in terms of education, citing stronger demand growth for the group’s Cambridge syllabus than the local alternatives it offers.
In its latest annual results, AdvTech said Kenyan parents increasingly opted for its Makini Cambridge International curriculum over the national syllabus, despite the higher cost.
Ethiopia’s rapid urbanisation is also driving increased demand for high-quality private education in Addis Ababa, the fifth-fastest-growing city in Africa, as public schooling becomes increasingly constrained in the nation’s capital.
The growing demand saw AdvTech investing significant capital to expand its international footprint last year. The group purchased Flipper International School in Addis Ababa for $7.5m (R135m) in November, adding five schools and more than 3,000 students to its portfolio.
The company also increased the capacity of its Gaborone International School in Botswana to 3,300 students and, in the second quarter of this year, it plans to expand Nairobi’s Crawford International School in response to “continued strong demand”.
AdvTech’s African expansion saw the group reporting strong full-year earnings growth as enrolments broke through 100,000 learners for the first time.
The group reported a 16% increase in headline earnings per share (HEPS) to 202.2c for the year to end-December, with enrolment growth and moderate fee increases lifting revenue 8% to R8.52bn.
Operating profit before interest and nontrading items increased 14% to R1.79bn. A full-year dividend of 101c per share was declared compared with 87c a year ago.
The group recorded capital expenditure of R982m, a third of which went towards increasing the capacity of its existing campuses. The company reported double-digit enrolment growth in both the secondary and tertiary schooling divisions this year.
In AdvTech’s secondary schooling unit, it opened a new Pinnacle College campus this year, while the tertiary division expanded its Rosebank College in Pretoria and Braamfontein and relocated Rosebank College in Cape Town in order to double its student capacity.
During the year the company completed the acquisition of FNB’s training and conference centre in Sandton, with plans to convert it into a new university campus to co-locate two of the group’s biggest tertiary brands, Varsity College and Vega. It will have an initial capacity of about 9,000 students.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.