WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 15—The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has just released a study entitled "The Business of Education: A Look at Kenya’s Private Education Sector," which breaks new ground for the Corporation as it examines private education in a developing country from the business point of view. The study found that, over the years, demand for education in Kenya has greatly outpaced supply, creating a gap which has been partly filled by private schools catering to the needs of a wide range of socio-economic groups. Kenyan private educational institutions, however, face a number of serious constraints, stemming primarily from inadequate finance and, in many cases, limited management skills. The paper focuses on conditions under which private financial institutions might play a useful role in providing the needed finance to develop the education sector.
The authors of the paper are Yannis Karmokolias and Jack van Lutsemburg Maas. Karmokolias, a Greek national, is a senior economist with IFC. He has previous experience at the World Bank and in the private sector in Africa, North America and Europe.
Jack van Lutsemburg Maas, a U.S. national, is currently IFC’s lead education specialist. He has over 20 years experience in the World Bank’s education sector in Africa, East Asia and Latin America. He has taught in public schools in the U.S. and at Uganda’s Makarere University.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral source of equity and loan financing for private sector projects in developing countries.
