Sub-Saharan Africa faces a $70 billion annual education financing gap driven by chronic underfunding and inequitable spending both domestically and internationally.
According to UNESCO’s report, “Closing the global SDG4 financing gap: Accelerating sustainable financing solutions for education”, The region accounts for the largest share of a $97 billion annual gap needed to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) in 79 low- and lower-middle-income countries between 2023 and 2030.
“A 2023 costing exercise revealed that achieving SDG4 in 79 low- and lower-middle-income countries would require US$461 billion annually from 2023 to 2030. However, these countries face a substantial financing gap of US$97 billion per year, with Sub-Saharan Africa accounting for the largest share—US$70 billion annually,” the report stated.
UNESCO warns about the costs of underinvestment as governments around the world, particularly those in low- and middle-income countries get to lose $1.1 trillion annually due to early school leavers and $3.3 trillion per year for children without basic skills.
The financing challenge for SDG4
The report disclosed that governments in these regions allocate insufficient funds to education, spending just $55 per learner annually compared to $8,543 in high-income countries.
This disparity reflects a chronic underfunding of education, leaving millions of children without access to quality learning opportunities.
- The UNESCO report highlights the inequitable distribution of global education funding. In 2022, official development assistance (ODA) for education totaled $16.6 billion, but less than a third of this aid was directed toward basic education in Sub-Saharan Africa, where over half of the world’s out-of-school children reside.
- Additionally, 41% of low- and lower-middle-income countries fail to meet the benchmarks of spending at least 4-6% of GDP or 15-20% of public expenditure on education.
This shortfall has far-reaching consequences, including poor learning outcomes and limited opportunities for disadvantaged children.
Proposed solutions to close the gap
The UNESCO report calls for urgent action to bridge the education financing gap.
Key recommendations include:
- Increased domestic resource mobilization: Governments must expand tax bases and raise the tax-to-GDP ratio to at least 15%, allocating 4-6% of GDP or 15-20% of public expenditure to education.
- Ensuring that affluent corporations and individuals contribute fairly while broadening the tax base through the integration of the informal economy.
- Harmonizing taxes, addressing illicit financial flows, and restructuring global financial systems to support education investment.
- Allow low-income countries to use funds saved from reduced debt payments for education by expanding programs like “debt swaps for education,” where debt is forgiven in exchange for education investments.
- Use new methods like education bonds, blended finance, and social impact bonds to attract private and philanthropic funding. Encourage creative financial guarantees to unlock more investment in public education.
- Increase tax revenue through broader tax bases and efficient collection while ensuring equitable and impactful education spending.
- Finance ministries and education ministries must collaborate to create long-term, sustainable education funding plans.
- Strengthen low-income countries’ role in international tax negotiations and develop fair global tax rules to boost education funding.
