Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, has called on the international community to adopt a global debt-for-education swap initiative to help developing countries invest more in education while meeting their debt obligations.
Ambassador Ibrahim made the proposal during the UNESCO Conference on System Transformation and Resilience for Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) held in Paris, France. The conference brought together global leaders, policymakers, development partners, and education stakeholders to discuss sustainable financing strategies for quality education.
Speaking at the event, Ambassador Ibrahim said the increasing debt burden on developing nations is significantly reducing government investment in education, as many countries now allocate a larger share of their budgets to debt servicing instead of expanding access to quality learning.
He noted that governments are being forced to divert limited financial resources away from critical sectors such as school construction, teacher recruitment, educational infrastructure, and digital learning in order to meet debt repayment obligations.
According to the UN envoy, at least 113 countries, representing more than six billion people, are currently affected by the global debt crisis, limiting their ability to invest in human capital development and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4, which focuses on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all.
Ambassador Ibrahim also expressed concern over the decline in development assistance from advanced economies, noting that reduced international funding for education has further increased the financial challenges facing low- and middle-income countries.
To address the problem, he proposed a debt-for-education swap framework that would allow debtor nations to continue repaying the principal amount of their loans while temporarily suspending interest payments. Under the proposal, the suspended interest would be redirected toward financing education projects and strengthening national education systems.
He explained that such a financing mechanism would provide countries like Nigeria with the fiscal space needed to renovate schools, modernize universities, expand digital learning infrastructure, promote research and innovation, and improve access to quality education without defaulting on existing debt commitments.
Ambassador Ibrahim warned that meaningful progress toward achieving SDG 4 would remain difficult if countries continue to spend a substantial portion of their revenues on debt servicing. He noted that some developing nations currently devote as much as 70 percent of government revenue to servicing debt.
“The world cannot continue to mortgage the future of our children to service debt. We must create a new global financing model that allows nations to honour their debt obligations while investing in education.”
He added that redirecting resources currently spent on debt interest into classrooms, research, innovation, and skills development would create more prosperous, resilient, and peaceful societies.
The UNESCO conference concluded with renewed discussions on innovative financing models to bridge the global education funding gap. UNESCO has warned that 113 countries now spend more on debt servicing than on education, while international development assistance for education is expected to decline between 2023 and 2027, increasing pressure on developing economies striving to improve their education systems.
