ADvTECH Group

The ADvTECH Group is a South African private tertiary education company, with operations across Africa.^[2] In late 2024, the company operated 8 universities and 110 colleges and schools.^[3] In the same year, the group reported 105,710 total enrolments, with roughly 60% of those being for tertiary-level qualifications.^[1]

ADvTECH Limited

Company type	Public
Traded as	JSE: ADH
ISIN	ZAE000031035
Industry	Education Recruitment
Founded	1978; 47 years ago (1978)
Headquarters	Johannesburg, South Africa
Area served	Africa
Key people	Alexandra Watson (Chairperson) Geoff Whyte (CEO)
Services	Tertiary education
Revenue	R8.52 billion (2024)[1]
Operating income	R1.79 billion (2024)[1]
Net income	R1.10 billion (2024)[1]
Total assets	R10.77 billion (2024)[1]
Total equity	R6.17 billion (2024)[1]
Website	advtech.co.za

History

ADvTECH is Africa's largest private education provider and^[4] the holding company of the Independent Institute of Education which operates tertiary education brands including Vega School, Capsicum Culinary Studio, Maragon Private Schools, Tyger Valley College, School of Hospitality & Service Management, Varsity College and Rosebank College.

The group operates a schools division with brands including Crawford International, Trinityhouse Schools,^[5][6] Abbotts Colleges, Southdowns College, Maragon Schools, Tyger Valley College, Centurus Colleges, Junior Colleges^[7][8] and Makini Schools.^[9]

In late 2017 the company discovered fraud by a financial manager in its schools division.^[10][11] That year, it began working on a new school in Nairobi, in the special economic zone Tatu City.^[2] In 2017, the company ran 90 schools in South Africa and Botswana^[2] across 47 campuses.^[7] It had 27,000 students enrolled under seven brands. It also owned nine tertiary education brands, and was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.^[2] Its CEO was Roy Douglas.^[12]

In 2018, it was expanding in Kenya and Uganda,^[13] purchasing a majority stake in the education group Scholé Ltd.^[14] Also in 2018, it acquired Monash South Africa (MSA) in Johannesburg. It had also recently acquired Capsicum Culinary Studio, The Private Hotel School and Oxbridge Academy.^[15] It acquired a 71% stake in the Makini Schools in 2018. By 2021, its stake was 94%.^[3]

The CEO of the ADvTECH Group in 2024 was Geoff Whyte. He succeeded Roy Douglas, who retired from the position as of February of 2024. Chairman in 2024 was Chris Boulle.^[16] In 2014, ADvTECH bought 100% of Flipper International School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.^[17] The deal was for US$7.5 million.^[3] In April 2024, it was reported that Advtech would be expanding into health education, particularly nursing.^[9]