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Ukorebi Esien | July 11, 2026
CALABAR – Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, has called for the adoption of a new global financing model for education, urging the international community to embrace innovative debt restructuring mechanisms that would enable developing countries to invest more in education without compromising their debt obligations.
Ambassador Ibrahim made the call during the UNESCO Conference on System Transformation and Resilience for Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) held in Paris, France, according to a statement issued by his media office in New York.
Addressing delegates at the conference, the Nigerian envoy said the growing debt burden on developing countries was steadily weakening investments in education as governments increasingly diverted scarce public resources to debt servicing instead of expanding access to quality learning, improving educational infrastructure, recruiting teachers and strengthening research and innovation.
He warned that the trend poses a significant threat to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 4, which seeks to ensure inclusive, equitable and quality education for all.
Ambassador Ibrahim noted that no fewer than 113 countries, with a combined population of more than six billion people, are grappling with mounting debt pressures that have significantly constrained their fiscal capacity to invest in human capital development.
He also expressed concern over declining development assistance from advanced economies, noting that reduced global funding for education has further complicated efforts by low- and middle-income countries to strengthen their education systems.
To address the challenge, the Nigerian envoy proposed a debt-for-education swap framework that would allow debtor nations to continue repaying the principal component of their loans while suspending interest payments. The deferred interest, he suggested, should instead be redirected towards financing education projects and strengthening national education systems.
According to him, such an arrangement would provide countries like Nigeria with the fiscal space to rehabilitate schools, modernise universities, expand digital learning infrastructure, promote research and innovation, and improve access to quality education without defaulting on existing debt commitments.
Ambassador Ibrahim observed that some developing countries currently commit as much as 70 per cent of their government revenues to debt servicing, leaving limited resources for critical sectors such as education.
"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.
"Suspending interest payments and redirecting them to schools, universities and learning infrastructure is a practical pathway to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4," he said.
He stressed that education remains the most sustainable investment any nation can make, adding that redirecting resources currently lost to debt interest into classrooms, research, innovation and skills development would contribute to building more prosperous, resilient and peaceful societies.
The UNESCO conference brought together ministers, development partners, multilateral institutions and education stakeholders from around the world to assess progress towards achieving SDG 4 and explore sustainable approaches to financing education.
According to the statement, UNESCO has warned that 113 countries now spend more on debt servicing than on education, while global development assistance for education is projected to decline significantly between 2023 and 2027, further widening the financing gap facing many developing nations.
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