Private equity group builds pan-African HE platform

Financial Times 15 July 2017

UK-based private equity firm Actis, which specialises in emerging markets, has created a US$275 million higher education platform spanning nine countries in Africa as it looks to cater to rapidly growing educational needs, writes Javier Espinoza for the Financial Times.

The pan-African initiative, which the group has branded Honoris United Universities, has brought together private universities and colleges across 48 campuses in 30 cities. Honoris already serves 27,000 students but the company expects the student population to grow to 100,000 in the next three to five years as more join and Actis purchases institutions to add to the platform.

Actis began putting money into Africa in December 2014 when it acquired the Université Centrale Group, a post-secondary education group, in Tunisia. Actis has also announced the expansion of Honoris to South Africa by agreeing to invest in two of the country’s leading private distance learning institutions, Mancosa and Regent Business School. The private equity investor is also adding EMSI, a leading private engineering school in Morocco, to the platform as it expands in French-speaking Africa.
Full report on the Financial Times site

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