The owner of Makini Schools recorded a 60.7 percent jump in net profit to 68.6 million rand (Sh545.4 million) in Kenya in the year ended December 2025, driven by increasing numbers of learners and growing demand for the more expensive Cambridge International curriculum.
This was up from the 42.7 million rand (Sh339.5 million) net profit the South African education multinational ADvTECH reported in the country in 2024, according to the multinational’s latest annual report.
Financial disclosures show the group recorded a pre-tax profit of 99.4 million rand (Sh790.2 million) in Kenya in 2025. After tax expenses of 30.8 million rand (Sh244.9 million), the company retained 68.6 million rand in net profit.
In the previous year, ADvTECH posted a pre-tax profit of 69.3 million rand (Sh550.9 million), with tax expenses of 26.6 million rand (Sh211.5 million), resulting in profits of 42.7 million rand.
The company attributed the growth to increased demand for premium-priced international education, which boosted student enrolment growth as it continued expansion in Kenya’s private school market.
“Our premium-priced Cambridge International curriculum continues to grow in Kenya, with parents increasingly choosing it over the national syllabus. This is having a positive impact on the overall financial performance of the Makini brand,” the company said in the disclosures.
ADvTECH’s Kenyan education business comprises Makini Schools, Crawford International School and the recently acquired Regis Runda Academy, which was rebranded under the Makini brand.
At the end of 2025, Makini Schools had an enrolment of 6,140 students across its campuses while that of Crawford stood at 900.
“Driven by strong market demand, a further expansion of Crawford International School in Kenya was completed in September 2025, increasing student capacity from 900 to 1,300 students,” the firm said.
Makini offers both the national Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) and the Cambridge International Curriculum through nine campuses in Nairobi and Kisumu. Crawford exclusively offers the Cambridge curriculum.
Makini School fees vary by student’s grade, campus and curriculum, with annual tuition ranging from approximately Sh270,000 to Sh440,000, according to its website.
In comparison, Crawford International School's annual tuition fees range from Sh550,000 to Sh1.6 million, depending on the student’s grade.
“Our international schools operation is further enhanced by the alignment of these mid-fee schools under one brand,” ADvTECH said. Providers of private education in Kenya target rich and middle-class households who are able to pay the fees that can top the Sh4 million mark per child per annum.
A significant expatriate population, including staff of foreign embassies, multinationals and international agencies, also provides demand for private education in the capital Nairobi and other cities such as Mombasa and Kisumu.
ADvTECH’s large operation in Kenya saw the company pay hundreds of millions of shillings in taxes, including Pay As You Earn (PAYE) deductions of 28.2 million rand (Sh224.2 million) and property rates and taxes of 600,000 rand (Sh4.8 million).
The multinational, which offers education in South Africa and multiple other African countries, entered the Kenyan education market in 2018 through the acquisition of Makini Schools and has since steadily expanded its footprint.
Last year, the group completed the acquisition of Regis Runda Academy in Nairobi for approximately 172 million rand (about Sh1.2 billion), one of the largest transactions in Kenya’s private education sector.
The school, previously owned by its proprietors Peter Burugu and Mary Burugu, has a capacity for 2,000 students and has since been rebranded as Makini School Runda.
The company sees Kenya as one of its key growth markets alongside South Africa, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana and Mauritius, where it has schools.
It is also preparing to enter Kenya’s higher education sector through its Rosebank University brand, a move that is expected to intensify competition for private universities such as Daystar University, United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) and Strathmore University.
ADvTECH chief executive Geoff Whyte said last year that the group’s strategy is to replicate its successful schools and university model across Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana and Botswana.
“What we laid out there is that we would like to develop in those four countries of operation premium schools using the Crawford brand, the mid-fee school model and a university,” Mr Whyte said during an investor briefing in August 2025.
The multinational plans to charge annual tuition fees ranging between $2,500 (Sh323,000) and $4,000 (Sh516,000) at Rosebank University campuses established outside South Africa. The group recently opened Rosebank International University College in Accra offering undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
In its latest disclosures, ADvTECH said the Ghana venture was performing well and would serve as a template for expansion into other African markets.
“New market entry into Ghana with Rosebank International University College is progressing well, reinforcing our commitment to providing quality education across the African continent,” the company said.
“The group’s intent is to scale the RIUC brand across our existing markets on the continent.”
