The first of 20 international schools planned by the consortium of publicly-owned East African company, Centum Investments, with the private, for-profit, Sabis education network and private investment firm Investbridge Capital (IBC) is to open in Kiambu, Kenya in September 2018.
The school network will be established in countries across the continent and will follow an entrepreneural-focused university preparation curriculum developed by Sabis.
“Education is one of the last major frontiers of GDP growth in Africa”
Centum, part of the Kenyan government’s Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation, partnered with Sabis and IBC in 2015 to launch a new holding company that will invest in the education sector in Africa – a sector that Mark DeSario, chief executive officer of IBC described as “one of the last major frontiers of GDP growth.”
Beirut-based Sabis, with a network ranging over 16 countries including the US, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, intends the new schools to be university-prep schools with a strong emphasis on innovation so that they “make a lasting and positive contribution” to the communities they are situated in.
Part of the education programme offered by the schools will follow the ‘SABIS Student Life Organization®’.
Ayham Ayche, director of business development at Sabis, told The PIE News the scheme “allows students to launch their own initiatives within the school and build their entrepreneurial acumen by teaching them skills such as creating business plans, public speaking, prototyping, and many other skills essential for any successful entrepreneur.”
Originally reported to be open next year, the ‘smart school’ in Kiambu will teach technology to students.
Centum Investments director, Chris Kirubi, said the school aims to help “drive more innovation” and “transform the country’s economy through transforming businesses”.
The group intends to open its remaining schools within the next five years according to Ayche, who added that two more projects have been identified and are being developed in Egypt and South Africa.
