Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Monday, Jun 16, 2025

$280m allocated in innovative financing for education

$280m allocated in innovative financing for education

The Islamic Development Bank and the Global Partnership for Education recently announced the first allocation of $280 million in innovative financing for education, through the Arab Coordination Group’s Smart Education Financing Initiative, to Cameroon, the Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan.
The partnership was announced on the final day of the IsDB’s annual meetings in Jeddah. The beneficiary countries will be the first to access funding under the initiative, to support effective and sustainable programs that will provide education to millions of children.

Mohammed Al-Jasser, the IsDB president and group chairman, said: “In our efforts to build better and more resilient education systems, countries like Cameroon, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan must be supported with financial tools to complement domestic resources. Through this initiative, the IsDB, GPE, and our Arab development partners are stepping up our commitment to expand available funding for education.”

GPE CEO Laura Frigenti told Arab News in an exclusive interview that the education sector had made significant progress in the two decades pre-COVID-19. Unfortunately, that progress has been reversed by the pandemic, which has kept schools closed in many GPE partner countries for over two years, which has generated a “loss” in terms of “learning and learning outcomes.”

Frigenti said: “We are working very hard with our partner countries — we work in 90 countries in the world, all low-income and middle-income countries — to make sure that this trend is reversed.

“One of the problems that affect(s) the education sector is the fact that it is a very expensive sector, and it takes a long time to generate results. Unfortunately, at the moment it is really not fully funded, so there is a need for innovation beyond the traditional official flows of funds.”

She added: “This mechanism that we put in place matches grants from our resources, with some soft loans coming from, for example, the Saudi development funds or the United Arab funds. To make sure (of) that we put together financing packages that leverage financial resources that wouldn’t necessarily go to education with a ratio of four to one. So, with very strong grant elements … (that) really multiplies the level of resources that are accessible for countries.”

Developed in December 2021 by GPE and the ACG, a grouping of Arab financial development institutions, the Smart Education Financing Initiative has generated $500 million to support education in lower-income countries.

ACG is providing $400 million alongside $100 million from the GPE Multiplier, an innovative financing tool that attracts investments from other donors. Funds under the initiative are accessible to 37 countries that are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which are collectively home to nearly 28 million out-of-school children.

GPE is a shared commitment to end the world’s learning crisis, through mobilizing partners and funds to support nearly 90 lower-income countries to transform their education systems so that every child can get the quality education they need to unlock their full potential.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
Energy Infrastructure Becomes War Zone in Middle East
Iran Conducts Ballistic Missile Launches Amid Heightened Tensions with Israel
Iran Signals Openness to Nuclear Negotiations Amid Ongoing Regional Tensions
Shock Within Iran’s Leadership: Khamenei’s Failed Plan to Launch 1,000 Missiles Against Israel
Trump's Anti-War Stance Tested Amid Israel-Iran Conflict
UK Deploys Jets to Middle East Amid Rising Tensions
Exiled Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi Urges Overthrow of Khamenei Regime
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Iran Launches Extensive Missile Attack on Israel Following Israeli Strikes on Nuclear Sites
Israel Issues Ultimatum to Iran Over Potential Retaliation and Nuclear Facilities
Black Box Recovered from Air India Crash Site
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
Trump to Iran: Make a Deal — Sign or Die
Operation "Like a Lion": Israel Strikes Iran in Unprecedented Offensive
Israel Launches 'Operation Rising Lion' Targeting Iranian Nuclear and Military Sites
Israeli Forces Intercept Gaza-Bound Aid Vessel Carrying Greta Thunberg
IMF Warns of Severe Global Trade War Impacts on Emerging Markets
Syria to Reconnect to Global Economy After 14 Years of Isolation
Israel Confirms Arming Gaza Clan to Counter Hamas Influence
Global News Roundup: From Ukraine's strategic military strikes and Russia's demands and Tensions Escalate in Ukraine, to serious legal issues faced by Britons in Bali and Trump's media criticism, the latest developments highlight a turbulent landscape
U.S. Reduces Military Presence in Syria
Trump Demands Iran End All Uranium Enrichment in Nuclear Talks
Iran Warns Europe Against Politicizing UN Nuclear Report
Paris Saint-Germain's Greatest Triumph Is Football’s Lowest Point
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
European and Arab Ministers Convene in Madrid to Address Gaza Conflict
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
UAE Offers Free ChatGPT Plus Subscriptions to Citizens
Lebanon Initiates Plan to Disarm Palestinian Factions
Iran and U.S. Make Limited Progress in Nuclear Talks
The Daily Debate: The Fall of the Dollar — Strategic Reset or Economic Self-Destruction?
Trump Administration's Tariff Policies and Dollar Strategy Spark Global Economic Debate
OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive’s Startup for $6.5 Billion to Build a Revolutionary “Third Core Device”
Turkey Weighs Citizens in Public as Erdoğan Launches National Slimming Campaign
Saudi-Spanish Business Forum Commences in Riyadh
Saudi Arabia and Spain Sign MoU to Boost SME Sectors
×