Saarah Saint had almost everything a young South African needs to be successful: a strong work ethic, professional ambition, and creativity. But the one thing she didn’t yet have—a higher education degree—threatened to derail her plans for a career in advertising.
Johannesburg’s Vega School, which prepares its students for careers through “Work-Integrated Learning” and emphasizes job placement, offered a path forward. Vega’s curriculum develops students’ hard and soft skills in projects that simulate situations they would encounter in the workplace, giving them a competitive advantage. Its marketable degrees position students to secure meaningful employment and improve their quality of life.
Saint experienced this first-hand when she was offered a place in a special program offered by Ogilvy and Mather, one of the largest advertising companies in the world. She was invited with about 40 other candidates to work on a group assignment. “I was prepared to do it,” she says, “but the other participants did not know how to work that way. Vega equipped me with the right skills.”
After concluding her studies, Saarah Saint got a job at an advertising company.
Other Vega graduates have similar stories. The institution is part of ADvTECH, a publicly traded holding group of 16 independent educational brands that offers 165 accredited qualifications. Three of ADvTECH’s higher-education institutions, including Vega, comprise The Independent Institute of Education (“The IIE”). It is the largest private educational provider in South Africa, serving about one quarter of privately educated students in the country.
ADvTECH also has a presence in Botswana, Kenya, and Zambia, and it is actively exploring partnerships in other countries across sub-Saharan Africa. To help ADvTECH expand further across the continent and prepare the next generation of Africans for market-focused careers, IFC acquired a 4-percent equity stake valued at R320 million (approximately $22 million) in 2016.
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