Centum owned Sabis School injects Sh1bn for expansion

Centum Group CEO James Mworia (centre) being taken through the Sabis digital curriculum by the school’s director, Robert Kleynhans during the open day in Runda. Looking on is Mercy Njoroge, the chief finance officer of Africa Crest Education Holdings. FILE PHOTO | NMG

What you need to know:

  • Sabis International School which welcomed its first batch of 100 students in September this year expects the second phase of expansion in Runda will raise its admission capacity to a total of 1,200 students.
  • The Sh600,000 fee a year school that admits pupils from kindergarten to high school in September 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.

Centum-owned Sabis International School in Runda has said it will invest $10 million (about Sh1 billion) for expansion.

The Runda based elite school which welcomed its first batch of 100 students in September this year expects the second phase of expansion in Runda will raise its admission capacity to a total of 1,200 students.

The latest round of expansion, the school said, will involve the building of 3 accommodation blocks, 2 classroom blocks and a 400-meters athletics track.

The Sabis Kenya director Robert Kleynhans said the expansion is based on “projected growth, having already received interest from hundreds of parents since opening less than four months ago.”

"We expect to admit hundreds of more students starting next year based on the interest recorded from parents," said Mr Kleynhans in a statement.

The Sh600,000 fee a year school that admits pupils from kindergarten to high school in September 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.

Sabis is in direct competition with other elite learning institutions such as the German School, International School of Kenya, Potterhouse School, Braeburn, Rosslyn Academy, Kenton and St Andrews Turi.

Nairobi Securities Exchange listed -Centum, in partnership with a Dubai-based PE firm Investbridge Capital and the international chain of schools Sabis, had earlier said they will build the school to a 2,000-pupils capacity institution.

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.

About 70 per cent of the current student population in Sabis, the school said in the statement is Kenyan and 30 per cent expatriate population “from different countries such as UK, Spain and France.”

In February this year, Dubai Investments announced it would invest $20 million (Sh2 billion) into Sabis.