{"id":7902,"date":"2026-09-10T08:17:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T07:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/?p=7902"},"modified":"2026-08-24T11:48:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T10:48:26","slug":"loans-over-education-where-are-african-countries-spending-their-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/2026\/09\/10\/loans-over-education-where-are-african-countries-spending-their-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Loans Over Education: Where are African Countries Spending Their Money"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Education, Julius Ogamba, appeared before the National Assembly on 16 July 2026, he admitted that the government owed public schools Ksh 28.97 billion (about $223.7 million) in unpaid capitation. This is the money paid to schools to cater to the needs of learners straight from primary, junior secondary and senior secondary schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each learner is allocated Ksh 2,300 ($17.76) per year at the primary level, Ksh 15,000 ($ 115.83) in junior secondary, and Ksh 22,240 ($171.74) in senior secondary schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While dismissing claims that the government slashed the capitation for learners in senior secondary school to Ksh 14,000 ($108.11), Ogamba highlighted the real issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Despite consistently requesting adequate education funding, budgetary constraints prevented the Treasury from matching our requests,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education disclosed that the debt is an accumulation of arrears dating back to the financial year 2018\/2019. This development, which has seen public schools grapple with keeping learners in schools, is a reflection of the grim findings by a recent report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The report by UNESCO Global Education Monitoring report, “Breaking the Debt Trap,” published on its website on 10 July 2026, revealed that 113 countries spend more on servicing debt than on education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impact of debt servicing at the expense of education affects 6.1 billion people and pushes 273 million children out of school globally. Low and middle-income countries are most affected, facing an annual education financing gap of $97 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, June 11, when Kenya’s National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi read the budget for the financial year 2026\/2027, the education sector was allocated Ksh 784.5 billion ($6 billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fiscal year’s total overall national expenditure framework was Ksh 4.82 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the allocation to the education sector represented 26.8% of national government ministerial allocations, it is significantly lower than the Ksh 1,501.3 trillion designated for public debt interest payments and pensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increased borrowing saw the allocation rise to Ksh 1.337 trillion in the financial year 2025\/2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the National Treasury’s May 2026 Monthly Bulletin on Public Debt, Kenya’s total debt stood at Ksh 12,896.38 trillion at the end of May 2026. This amount comprised a domestic debt of Ksh 7,239.08 trillion and external debt of Ksh 5,657.30 trillion, with the overall figure representing about 68.8% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of the 2026 budget reading, the National Assembly’s Public Debt and Privatisation Committee disclosed that Kenya would spend Ksh 2.31 trillion out of the Ksh 4.82 trillion overall budget on debt repayment. From the debt repayment allocation, Ksh 1.06 trillion would go to principal debt and Ksh 1.25 trillion would cover loan interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The domestic debt service takes up the larger share at Ksh 1.64 trillion (71%), while external debt service takes Ksh 680.38 billion (29%) of the debt commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Lusaka, a Treasury statement released in June showed what can be described as something that has become a routine for countries in sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the statement, Zambia paid K34.9 billion ($1.88 billion) to service debt and clear arrears arising from government borrowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This allocation was more than two-thirds of every disbursement for expenditure for that month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In West Africa, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, during a meeting with African leaders in May 2026, said Nigeria would spend $11.6 billion to pay its creditors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This amount was nearly half the country’s projected revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in Nairobi, the Controller of Budget reported that debt repayments had gobbled up 42% of Kenya’s total government receipts in the first nine months of the financial year 2025\/2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UNESCO report captured these symptoms of a continent-wide affliction by debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the report released during the Transforming Education Summit in Paris in July, the sub-Saharan region was hit the hardest, with governments spending on average 3.6 times more paying creditors than paying teachers, establishing education infrastructure and investing in technology learning materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation in the poorest countries monitored, the gap widens to nearly four times, and in the most heavily indebted nations, the repayment of debts surpasses education budgets by up to five times, highlighting the need for urgent interventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ballooning debt obligations are attributed to the rising global interest, domestic fiscal debts, a mismatch between the demand and supply of the US dollars which fuelled the shilling depreciation and heavy financing of like the Standard Gauge Railway<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a growing mismatch between the demand and the supply of US dollars is disrupting business and fuelling brisk shilling depreciation, which has accelerated in 2023. The exchange rate slumped to US$125.4:US$1 on average in February, 10.4% weaker year on year, and has continued sliding in March, adding to inflationary pressures (in line with Kenya\u2019s heavy import dependence) and to already-high debt-servicing costs. From one perspective, the current mini-crunch in foreign reserves is a forewarning of what could happen in 2024, when debt repayments surge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is more expensive for countries to borrow new loans while refinancing the old ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The depreciation of currencies across the African continent means governments earning revenue in local currency but owing debts in dollars or Euros need more shillings, kwacha or naira to make the same payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, the average US dollar to Kenyan Shilling exchange rate in 2021 was 1 for 109.6667; in 2025 it depreciated to the average rate of Ksh 129.29 for $ 1, according to the Exchange Rates Organisation, UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the Eurobonds issued in the 2010s are now maturing, pushing governments back into international capital markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Min Jeong Kim, the UNESCO Director of the Division of Education, described the resulting scenarios as a trap of austerity that results in a cycle of underinvestment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said, “this erodes the very economic growth and domestic revenue as governments need to eventually pay down what they owe.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike in previous years, Aid is not able to fill the gaps, lagging behind investment in education. New figures by the UNESCO project that international aid to education could fall by up to 30% between 2023 and 2027. Basic education funding is already down by 15%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Story of Kenya, Zambia, Angola and Nigeria<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kenya’s arithmetic reflects the concerns raised and interventions proposed by UNESCO. The country specifically borrows for schools, including a Ksh 29 billion World Bank credit for classroom construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the National Treasury signalled that it could return to the Eurobond Market and pursue more buybacks it will use to manage its maturing debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simply put, fresh borrowing is increasingly being used to service old borrowing rather than fund new development. After defaulting on its Eurobonds in 2029, Zambia offers a cautionary and hope for recovery story in equal measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the 2020 default, Zambia spent about four years negotiating what turned out to be one of Africa’s most closely watched debt restructuring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zambia only reached an agreement with more than 90% of its bondholders. Though rigorous, the result offered relief, with the country estimating to reduce its debt and interest burden by 40% over the next 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zambia’s restructuring also came along with expanded free education and recruitment of tens of thousands of teachers and healthcare workers under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) backed programme. Even with this restructuring, servicing of debt and general public services consumed at least 36% of Zambia’s 2026 budget, nearly matching what goes to all social spending combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A survey by the KMPG established that the country still faced concerns of insufficient support for education and health even after the restructuring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angola was quick to embrace the UNESCO prescription to address its debt situation while increasing financing of education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 2026, Angola secured World Bank and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) guarantees to buy back up to $400 million of expensive commercial debt and replace it with cheaper financing. The resulting interest savings were earmarked specifically for building schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an exact debt-for-education swap that UNESCO has recommended to help heavily indebted countries to continue investing in education as they honour their loan obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nigeria, Africa’s third largest economy by nominal GDP after South Africa and Egypt. South Africa is Africa’s largest economy, according to 2026 data from the IMF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nigeria is also facing a stark revenue squeeze and its interest payments for IMF projects alone will consume 53.7% of the country’s federal government in 2026 alone. This is 40.8% more than what was paid in the past two years. The IMF country assessments indicated that the total federal interest payments increased to 53.7% of Nigeria’s federal government revenue in 2026, up from 53.2% in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christian Ebeke, IMF Resident Representative in Nigeria, raised concern about the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The figure leaves very little room to actually pay for health, education, cash transfer, including security,” he observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, the total debt servicing for Nigeria reached N15.81 trillion ($11.53 billion), up 23 % in a single year. This increase was attributed to a sharp rise in domestic borrowing costs, which now exceed the capital expenditure by about N4 trillion ($2.92 billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Tinubu was not amused by this scenario and decried alleged structural injustice. He argued that African borrowers face financing costs and market access constraints that wealthier nations do not have to contend with at all. Tinubu defended his administration’s fiscal reforms, citing the removal of fuel subsidies and the unification of exchange rates, saying they had improved Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio at a time when revenue for servicing the debt had worsened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Implications of Loan Servicing at the Expense of Investing in Education<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

UNESCO and allied economists like Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz in 2025 warned that the imbalance of spending more on debt servicing than development was not a mere budget era. They observed that when loan servicing surpasses spending on education, the first casualties are teachers who go unpaid or remain unemployed, classrooms that never get built and capitation grants that are delayed or slashed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the economists’ letter to the G20, in Africa, 32 countries now spend more on debt servicing than on healthcare, while 25 spend more on debt than on education. The economists argue that capping the portion of state revenue going to debt service at around 10%, roughly half the current continental average of 17%, could free up enough money to provide clean water to 10 million people and prevent an estimated 23,000 child deaths annually across 21 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the experts’ analysis, the long-term concern is a self-reinforcing spiral where weaker education systems produce a less-skilled workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Korir Kiplimo, a senior lecturer in Communication and Development at Maseno University, Kenya, agreed with the UNESCO findings, while pointing out the long-term impacts of underinvestment in education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In the long run, you end up reinforcing a worrying cycle facilitated by government decision-making. Weak education systems will continue producing a less-skilled workforce which in turn dents the economic growth of the country,” he told The Open African Tribune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Korir observed that in an era where technology was driving big economies, Africa must devise and adopt strategies and recommendations that will increase access to quality education and produce a labour force that can innovate and reinforce economic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UNESCO and allied economists shared these sentiments, explaining that an inadequately skilled labour force not only dampened economic growth, but limited domestic revenue mobilisation by indebted countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim, the UNESCO education expert, opined that the debt servicing-education imbalance is not a fiscal problem to be solved country by country, but a structural feature of how developing countries’ debts are priced, structured and renegotiated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s the way out?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In its technical guide launched in July 2026, UNESCO recommends anchoring national fiscal planning on debt-for-education swap approaches. These are arrangements in which creditors agree to forgive or discount debt in exchange for a government’s binding commitment to redirect the savings into schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C\u00f4te d’Ivoire and Egypt are a testimony that countries can use this approach to gradually increase investment in education while honouring debt obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, the swap freed up resources for C\u00f4te d’Ivoire to build more than 30 schools reaching an estimated 30,000 students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2024 swap with Germany helped Egypt fund school feeding and nutrition programmes, with a longer-running Spain-Peru swap between 2006 and 2017 converting $20 million of debt into education projects, reaching roughly 174,000 students, teachers and community members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angola’s current $400 million buyback follows the same logic, and the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility arrangements in Zambia explicitly tied debt relief to protected social spending. It, however, remains an open question for regional agencies like the African Development Bank whether the model can be adopted for larger economies like Nigeria that hesitated to embrace formal restructuring proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zambia points to its restructuring as evidence that a way through exists, even though slowly, while Angola has experienced that deal-by-deal swaps can reduce the problem where wholesale relief is not assured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Korir said the real answer on whether such swaps can help countries in sub-Saharan Africa attain the UN’s 2030 educational goals lies with decision makers in indebted countries’ fiscal planning rooms and creditors’ boardrooms. “Swaps alone can’t resolve all debt burdens of the scales we are witnessing. We need political goodwill from both creditor and debtor countries,” he concluded.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Education, Julius Ogamba, appeared before the National Assembly on 16 July 2026, he admitted that the government owed public schools Ksh 28.97 billion (about $223.7 million) in unpaid capitation. This is the money paid to schools to cater to the needs of learners straight from primary, junior secondary and senior […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":8259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,30,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-governance","category-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7902"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8269,"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7902\/revisions\/8269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openafricantribune.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}