At UNGA 81, Nigeria Teams Up with Italy for Massive $5bn Global Education Funding

• Tinubu: Vision aligns with our agenda to improve outcomes, invest in access, capacity building 

• Education driving our economic future, says Shettima, to deliver Nigeria’s statement today

• Oyedele seeks easier, cheaper capital for developing countries, urges strategic shift in approach to climate finance

Deji Elumoye and Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

Nigeria and Italy have strengthened collaboration to implement the proposed Global Partnership for Education (GPE) financing campaign targeted at mobilising $5 billion for education financing worldwide.

This was just as President Bola Tinubu has said the GPE vision aligned with Nigeria’s agenda which aims at improving educational outcomes by investing in access as well as capacity building for teachers.

The president made this disclosure yesterday in New York, United States, during the Multiply Possibility High-level event tagged, “A New Era for Education Financing” held on the margins of the ongoing 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

In his intervention, Tinubu, in a video message, also commended stakeholders in the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) for their efforts in accelerating education financing globally.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, who is representing the Nigerian president at the global gathering, noted that education was an investment in Nigeria’s economic future, and productivity as well as the prosperity and stability of its citizens, stressing that it was not merely an expense at the margins of the country’s development agenda.

He said: “For Nigeria, education is not an expenditure at the margins of our development agenda. It is an investment in our economic future, national productivity, and the prosperity and stability of our people.

“Since President Bola Tinubu assumed office in 2023, our Administration has substantially increased resources devoted to education, while pursuing reforms to strengthen basic education financing, expand foundational learning, and improve access to tertiary and technical education.

“Through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, we are widening access to higher education, while strengthening the link between education, skills, employment and enterprise.”

According to the Vice President, while Nigeria was looking beyond traditional budgetary allocations, President Tinubu has directed that liquid funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, once legally cleared and free from litigation, be channelled to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.

To carry out the president’s directive, he said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) recently approved consideration of unclaimed dividends and dormant funds for the same purpose, subject to the relevant legal requirements.

This, Shettima explained, demonstrated the nation’s conviction that financing education needed mobilisation of every responsible and lawful domestic source available.

Citing Nigeria’s alliances with the World Bank and GPE through HOPE-EDU, the vice president underscored what international partnership could achieve, saying, “The programme is expected to reach approximately 29 million children and 500,000 teachers across Nigeria.

“This is precisely why GPE matters. GPE does not replace national investment; it multiplies it. The ambition before us is to mobilise US$5 billion for GPE and, through that investment, unlock additional financing for education in partner countries.

“Domestic resources must remain the anchor, complemented by development assistance, concessional finance, philanthropy and innovative financing.”

Shettima further observed that although Nigeria was a young country whose growing population could become one of its greatest economic assets, adding that this was possible only if the nation’s “young people have access to quality education, relevant skills and meaningful opportunities.”

The answer to declining global aid, he pointed out, “must therefore be smarter multilateralism: using scarce international resources to leverage much larger investments.”

He urged participants at the high-level event to ensure that it was not merely a fundraising exercise, “but a renewed compact for human capital, bringing together national leadership, international partnership and responsible financing so that every child has the opportunity to learn, thrive and contribute to their country’s future.”

Expressing Nigeria’s appreciation to the Italian government and GPE for joining in the conversation on the future of education financing, the Vice President said as co-hosts of the campaign, Nigeria was not participating merely to ask the international community to invest more in education but “to demonstrate that we are investing in education ourselves.”

Earlier in a video presentation, the Prime Minister of Italy, HE Giorgia Meloni, praised President Tinubu’s leadership and Nigeria’s determination to improve educational outcomes across all levels.

He urged all partners in the global alliance to show greater commitment to reversing the trend in developing countries.

On her part, the UN Deputy Secretary General, Dr Amina Mohammed, thanked all partners for the interest shown in the improvement of education financing in developing countries, noting that the changes sought by stakeholders should begin with the choices that governments make.

She called on International Finance Institutions to support committed countries in finding the fiscal spaces needed to improve educational outcomes, including capacity building for teachers whose motivation and training remain critical to achieving set objectives.

In the same vein, Chair of Board of Directors of GPE, Dr. Jakaya Kikwete, underscored the need for accelerating education financing, noting that the event was a reminder to the fact that education remained central to the attainment of human rights, security, and peace, among other benefits.

According to him, GPE was driven by the realities of the drop in development assistance in education amidst the widening financing gap and the fact that the world will increasingly depend on systems that deliver tangible and desirable outcomes

Girls’ education activist, Malala Yousafzai, emphasised the need for collaboration in ideas and resources, stating that global partnerships tend to produce greater results and more impactful outcomes than isolated interventions by countries.

She urged all stakeholders, especially multilateral organisations and governments across the world, to commit more resources and efforts to gender equality in education and address specific needs of the girl child, especially in developing countries.

Governments and donors at the high-level event made generous contributions towards the education of at least 370 million children globally, with the government of Italy pledging the sum of 50 million Euros for GPE programmes and Interventions.

Shettima had earlier attended a welcome breakfast hosted by United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres for Heads of Delegation and their spouses.

The vice-president, according to a statement by his Media Assistant, Stanley Nkwocha, arrived at the General Assembly Hall in company with Governors Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State and Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State.

Also on the Nigerian delegation were the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd); his Foreign Affairs counterpart, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, and other top government officials.

The General Debate, holding from September 22 to 28 under the theme, “Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations That Delivers for All,” opened with remarks by UN Secretary-General Guterres and addresses by world leaders, including Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and United States President, Donald Trump.

Shettima is scheduled to deliver Nigeria’s national statement before the General Assembly today, setting out the country’s position on major global issues and President Tinubu’s priorities for reform of international institutions, sustainable development, peace and security, climate action and a more equitable global economic order.

On his way from the United Nations Headquarters, Shettima, accompanied by governors, ministers, presidential aides and other members of the Nigerian delegation, made a brief stop at Nigeria House in New York.

At his New York engagements, the Vice President represented Tinubu at the Third High-Level Roundtable of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group, AMSG, where he called for a new continental push to end Africa’s dependence on the export of raw minerals and build processing, manufacturing and value-addition industries around the continent’s critical resources.

Shettima had said Africa’s mineral wealth must translate into jobs, industrial growth and improved living standards for Africans, urging countries on the continent to strengthen cooperation rather than compete through concessions that diminish the value of their resources.

The Vice President would also participate in other high-level and bilateral engagements during the UNGA week as Nigeria advances its national interests and strengthens cooperation with international partners.

Oyedele Seeks Easier, Cheaper Capital for Developing Countries

Also yesterday, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, has called for a strategic shift in the approach to climate finance, with simpler access to affordable capital for Africa and other developing countries, as well as financing arrangements that better reflect their development realities.

Oyedele called for a strategic shift in the approach to climate finance, with simpler access to affordable capital for Africa and other developing countries, as well as financing arrangements that better reflect their development realities.  He urged the international community to scale up the availability of affordable capital to finance infrastructure and development across the continent.

Addressing the United Nations Dialogue on Solutions to Climate Finance on the sidelines of the ongoing UNGA 81, Oyedele said Africa’s development ambitions, particularly its energy needs, continued to be constrained by high financing costs, currency risks and limited access to affordable long-term capital.

The minister explained that despite Africa’s relatively low contribution to global carbon emissions, the continent continued to face what he described as a “prejudice premium” and “narrative cost” in its efforts to mobilise financing for critical infrastructure.

The Head Information and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Finance, Efe Ovuakporie, said Oyedele also identified currency risk and what he termed “stereotype tax” as additional burdens confronting African countries as they seek to raise capital for critical energy and other development assets.

He, therefore, called for a strategic shift in the approach to climate finance, with simpler access to affordable capital for developing countries and financing arrangements that better reflect their development realities.

He also urged the international community to scale up investment in gas and other transition energy sources, particularly in Africa, to expand access to reliable and affordable energy and help address global energy poverty.

According to him, greater investment in Africa’s energy sector would also help diversify global energy supply and reduce concentration risks, particularly amid disruptions affecting the Gulf region.

The minister stressed that Africa’s energy transition must take account of the continent’s significant energy-access deficit, noting the need for greater investment to enable countries to meet their development needs while pursuing a practical transition to cleaner energy sources.

For Nigeria, Oyedele said the immediate priority was to structure and implement policies and programmes that would reduce poverty, expand economic opportunities and accelerate the distribution of shared prosperity.

Achieving these objectives, the minister said, would require stronger international cooperation and a financing framework that enables developing countries to mobilise the capital required to invest in infrastructure and improve the lives of their people.