Stakeholders in Nigeria’s education sector have begun preparations for the 2026 Global Partnership for Education (GPE) replenishment summit, with efforts focused on mobilising $5 billion for the GPE Fund and unlocking a further $10 billion in co-financing for education transformation across Africa.
The stakeholders met in Abuja on Tuesday at a high-level dialogue on education financing organised by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), ActionAid Nigeria, the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA) and other partners.
The meeting was convened to shape Nigeria’s position ahead of the October replenishment summit, which will be co-hosted by Nigeria and Italy.
Beyond mobilising international resources, participants said the summit should provide an opportunity to strengthen domestic financing for education and improve the way available resources are planned, released and spent.
Representing ActionAid Nigeria Country Director Andrew Mamedu, the organisation’s Director of Programmes, Odo, said the dialogue was intended to develop a coordinated strategy that would ensure increased investment in education and better targeting of available resources.
He said financing should also take into account the different needs of learners, including gender-related considerations.
According to him, the international benchmark for education financing is 15 per cent of annual national budgets, although he noted that some Nigerian states have already allocated more than that proportion to education.
He said the size of an education budget was only one part of the financing conversation, adding that implementation and the impact of spending were equally important.
He identified infrastructure, learning materials, digital education, teachers’ remuneration and the timely payment of salaries as areas requiring sustained investment.
The ActionAid representative also highlighted the need to accelerate the adoption of technology in education, particularly as digital learning continues to reshape how students access educational content and resources.
On external financing, Nigeria’s GPE Focal Person, Blessing Ikeguru, said support from development partners could complement government investment but should not replace domestic responsibility for financing education.
She explained that the GPE financing model places emphasis not only on the amount of money committed to education but also on the equity and efficiency of spending.
Nigeria’s education financing structure involves the federal, state and local governments, alongside statutory transfers and interventions targeted at basic education.
Ikeguru therefore stressed the importance of stronger coordination, transparency and reliable information on how education resources are allocated and spent.
She said the discussion should ultimately move beyond the question of how much money is being committed to education to whether the resources are producing meaningful outcomes for learners.
“We must therefore ask: are our resources reaching the children and communities with the greatest needs? Are our education budgets credible and fully implemented? Are public resources being used efficiently? Are our investments producing measurable improvements in access, learning and equity?” she said.
Also speaking, the National Moderator of CSACEFA, Peculiar Caleb, called for greater attention to the implementation and release of approved education budgets.
Caleb said timely access to budgeted resources was essential to ensuring that education programmes translated into actual improvements in schools and communities.
She also linked education financing to broader concerns around school safety and the ability of children to learn in secure environments, particularly amid insecurity in parts of the country.
The Abuja dialogue comes ahead of the October GPE replenishment summit, where governments, development partners, civil society organisations and other stakeholders are expected to discuss new financing commitments for education.
For Nigeria and other African countries, the discussions are expected to focus on how international financing can complement stronger domestic investment and support improvements in access, learning, equity, infrastructure and teacher development.
The stakeholders at the Abuja meeting said the preparations should therefore produce a clear financing position for Nigeria ahead of the global summit, while strengthening accountability for education spending at home.
