The News
Rising demand for international schools in Kenya from a substantial middle class and a growing expatriate population is driving investment into one of Africa’s fastest growing private education sectors.
“Kenya mirrors a wider African trend,” Elizabeth Imende, Executive Director of the Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA), told Semafor, saying parents were motivated by several factors including “the desire for globally portable education for children” and “strong pathways to universities worldwide.” She added that “while the expatriate population contributes to demand, Kenyan families themselves are equally strong drivers of the sector’s growth.”
Kenya’s popularity as an expatriate destination has also been driving demand. “More investment is coming in especially since the COVID pandemic because we’ve seen a lot more expatriates coming in with their families,” said Vincent Omondi, a Nairobi-based education consultant. The expected move of several United Nations agencies to Nairobi by 2026 is also driving interest from private school investors as more international staff are expected to arrive in the country. While the government does not publish official figures on expatriate numbers in Kenya, the latest available Central Bank data suggests their growing presence as expatriates wired out a record $671 million to their home countries in 2023, up 24% from the previous year.
Omondi noted that growth in the international school sector had also coincided with the 2019 rollout of Kenya’s controversial Competence Based Curriculum (CBC), an overhaul of the education system that has raised concerns among parents over its resource requirements, assessment methods, and inadequate teacher training. Many new international schools have cropped up in the years since, drawing in Kenyan middle class parents by offering lower fees than higher-end international schools.
“Our member schools in Kenya report increased interest particularly in accredited international curricula such as IB, British, or American programs,” Imende observed.
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In its half-year results published last week, South Africa’s ADvTech Group highlighted “continued strong demand” for its international schools in Kenya, saying “many parents prefer [its international curriculum] to the Kenyan syllabus.” It is doubling down on the market with its latest acquisition of Regis Runda schools for nearly $10 million in August.
The company’s growing footprint in Kenya helped drive its ‘Rest of Africa’ earnings, as its operating profit outside South Africa grew 34% in the half-year to $4.7 million.
There are at least 60 international schools in Kenya, with rapid growth witnessed in the past few years.
UK-headquartered Durham, which also operates schools in Doha and Dubai, is also undertaking a major expansion of its international schools in Nairobi to include a new campus and senior school. And in April, real estate equity firm Heri and GulfCap Investment Bank sealed a $16.3 million joint venture to channel funds towards the expansion of pan-African international schools group Nova Pioneer — which operates 15 schools in Kenya and South Africa.
Step Back
Some parents are concerned that tuition fees for international schools in Kenya could rise further with the arrival of more expatriates in the country. The costs were already the highest in Africa in 2024, according to the International Schools Database, a comparative research platform for international schools around the world.
The median price for international schools in Nairobi was $7,1116 — $1,500 more than the second-most expensive city, Johannesburg. At $2,966 per year, Cairo in Egypt was the least expensive location in Africa for international schooling.
Martin’s view
International schools in Kenya have long been considered a preserve of the upper classes, but this is changing fast. The implementation of the national curriculum has been a mess, and some lawmakers and parents continue to call for its scrapping. Parents concerned about the education of their children are scrambling for options, leading to the demand for international schools, but this situation risks widening the existing educational divide.
Delayed and inadequate funding of public schools is already affecting millions of learners across the country, pushing parents to find more expensive private options despite declining wages. Ensuring that all schools have the resources and infrastructure required to support the implementation of the curriculum, such as laboratories and sports facilities, should be at the top of the agenda for Kenya’s government.
Room for Disagreement
In its latest results published in August, investment group Helios Fairfax confirmed that it was progressing with plans to divest fully this year from Nova Pioneer Education Group, which owns seven private schools in South Africa and six in Kenya.
It noted that “revised expectations for the company’s future performance and changes in market conditions” could negatively impact the valuation of its 53.6% stake in the schools group.
Notable
- An education company previously owned by Dubai billionaire Sunny Varkey, worth an estimated $3.5 billion, is at the center of a high-stakes legal battle in Nairobi seeking to stop the sale of Regis Runda to South Africa’s ADvTech group for $9.7 million.