Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Jimoh Ibrahim, has warned that World Global Debt Crisis is threatening education in developing countries
He advocated a global debt-for-education swap initiative to help developing countries invest more in education while continuing to meet their debt obligations.
The proposal was presented during the UNESCO Conference on System Transformation and Resilience for Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) in Paris, France, where world leaders, policymakers and education stakeholders gathered to discuss sustainable financing strategies for quality education.
A statement issued by his media office in New York, Ambassador Ibrahim cautioned that the growing debt burden facing many developing nations was steadily reducing investments in education, as governments were increasingly forced to prioritise debt servicing over critical sectors such as school infrastructure, teacher recruitment and access to learning.
He warned that the trend poses serious threat to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4, which seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all.
The Nigerian envoy observed that at least 113 countries, with a combined population of more than six billion people, are grappling with rising debt burdens that have significantly weakened their capacity to invest in human capital development
He also expressed concern over declining development assistance from advanced economies, pointing out that reduced global funding for education has further compounded the challenges confronting low- and middle-income countries seeking to strengthen their education systems. To address the problem, Ibrahim proposed a debt-for-education swap framework that would allow indebted countries to continue repaying the principal on their loans while temporarily suspending interest payments.
He suggested that the suspended interest should instead be channelled directly into education projects and reforms.
According to him, such a financing model would provide countries like Nigeria with the fiscal space needed 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 further warned that with some nations committing as much as 70 per cent of their government revenues to debt servicing, achieving SDG 4 would remain difficult unless the international community adopted innovative financing mechanisms.
“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: “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 added that education remains the most sustainable investment any nation can make, arguing that redirecting resources currently spent on debt interest into classrooms, research, innovation and skills development would help build 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 SDG 4 and explore innovative approaches to financing education.
According to UNESCO, 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 funding gap facing developing countries.
