African Hope Leaning Centre came into existence in the Spring of 1998. The need for education for Sudanese refugee children and other members of the displaced community was great. Many factors contributed to the need including the economic situation of the African families and their general lack of acceptance and access to services in the Egyptian community. Their lack of legally recognized papers also exacerbated their status. Members of Maadi Community Church (MCC) worked to establish a learning centre that gave a basic Christian- based education. The centre grew to a level that catered for around 500 children from KG2 through to Grade 12, and a lunch was provided each day for both staff and students to support them nutritionally. Health care was also set up with visits from a local doctor once a week to the school and with a yearly health check of all children. It was aimed to employ qualified staff from the African Community to help there to be longer sustainability and also to provide employment within the Refugee group. This presented issues in quality teaching due to low salaries and a lack of available qualified staff. Over its long life African Hope Learning Centre has catered to students and staff from over 14 different African nations to include: North and South Sudan, Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Cameroon, Ghana, Somalia and Nigeria.
In 2011, the school moved to its current location with both Primary and Secondary School running out of one campus in two shifts. To try and encourage a better learning environment, classes have been capped at a maximum of 25 in each class. This has meant that the numbers of students is now around 450 though many more have applied to join the school and are on a waiting list.