American talk-show host, Oprah Winfrey, has said her South African-based girls’ boarding school worth $40 million will close next year.

Ms Winfrey, in a statement on Thursday, said the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) will be handed over to local authorities in South Africa.

“Following the completion of the 2027 academic year, the residential campus of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls will conclude its role as the center of the program. The property will be returned to the Gauteng Department of Education in accordance with the original partnership agreement,” the statement read.

“The dream was never simply to build a school. It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women. That mission doesn’t end with one campus. It continues in every girl whose future can be transformed through education.

“I’m excited that this next chapter will allow us to reach even more young women across South Africa and continue the promise that began more than 20 years ago,” it added.

Founded in 2007 to provide education for disadvantaged girls, the school has produced over 1000 graduates.

According to the statement, an independent study commissioned in 2024 found that 99 per cent of surveyed graduates went on to higher education, nearly nine in 10 said OWLAG gave them opportunities they would never otherwise have had, and 94 per cent reported that their education positively transformed their families. 

“Today, OWLAG alumnae are serving as doctors, educators, engineers, entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, business leaders and changemakers across South Africa and around the world,” it added.