ACG’s Golden Jubilee: GPE and IsDB Together with ACG, Celebrate Trailblazing Innovative Sustainable Financing for Education
WASHINGTON D.C., October 15, 2025 – As the Arab Coordination Group (ACG) celebrates five decades of development impact, the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) highlight SmartEd, a co-created innovative financing model that blends grants with concessional resources to sustain larger, more predictable financing for country-led education reforms. SmartEd, GPE’s largest innovative financing collaboration with a development partner, has mobilized $850 million for education, setting a remarkable example of sustaining large volumes of financing for education.
To build on this success, GPE is set to use this funding model with other development partners through an ambitious financing campaign to mobilize $5 billion and unlock another $10 billion in innovative financing for education. By unlocking 10% of the GPE Multiplier under a fully-funded financing campaign, GPE with IsDB and ACG can collectively deploy well over a billion dollars to transform education and tackle the learning crisis.
“Quality education is a powerful driver of sustainable development; without it, there can be no lasting progress or empowerment within any community. The SmartEd Initiative is an important joint initiative which uses quality education as a channel for skills development and socio-economic transformation – enabling every child to unlock their individual and collective potential and to thrive in an evolving world.” – H.E. Fawzi Alhunaif, Director General/Chairman of the Board of Directors AFESD, on behalf of the ACG.
“ACG’s jubilee commemorating fifty years of promoting global sustainable development is a momentous occasion to reflect on the success of our partnership that has unlocked millions of learning opportunities. In an increasingly constrained financing environment, SmartEd has emerged as trailblazer towards sustainable financing for education. With innovative development partners such as ACG on our side, GPE has launched a campaign to mobilize more resources for education through innovative financing to give 750 million children in 96 countries better learning.” - Laura Frigenti, CEO of GPE.
“SmartEd shows what our partnership can deliver when we align grants with concessional financing to scale country-led reforms. As ACG marks its Golden Jubilee, IsDB is deepening this collaboration so that our Member Countries can prioritize education, build human capital, and accelerate progress toward SDG4. With SmartEd Phase II, we will mobilize larger, more predictable resources, together with ACG institutions and partners, to translate national ambitions into better learning and brighter futures”. - H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, President of the Islamic Development Bank
Since 2018, GPE has raised $4.7 billion in innovative financing from more than 70 partners across the world. With a long-standing tradition of generosity and commitment to education, ACG has been pivotal to this success. Together with the Islamic Development Bank, and other Gulf partners, GPE and ACG have stepped up innovative financing to increase resources for education.
SmartEd has helped Member Countries of the IsDB to tackle learning crises by mobilizing more funding on better terms. Uzbekistan, Cameroon, Chad, Tajikistan, Nigeria and the Kyrgyz Republic are the first cohort of partner countries to access financing through SmartEd to improve access to and quality of education.
Our partnership comes at a critical time. Today, more than 270 million children and youth are out of school, two thirds of whom are in GPE partner countries, undermining these countries’ ability to build skilled workforces and grow their economies to respond to the challenges of a rapidly changing and interconnected world. By 2040, nearly 900 million young people across 91 current GPE partner countries will enter the workforce. SmartEd, as the vehicle of this growing innovative partnership, is key to equipping these young learners with the knowledge and skills they will need to drive global growth and stability.
Education is a powerful engine of inclusive growth and long-term prosperity. Over the past four decades, education has contributed to half of global economic growth, two-thirds of income increase among the world’s poorest, and 40% of global extreme poverty reduction. Every $1 invested through GPE will result in more than $33 in increased lifetime earnings for children in partner countries.
About the Arab Coordination Group (ACG)
The Arab Coordination Group (ACG) is a strategic alliance that provides a coordinated response to development finance. Since its establishment in 1975, ACG has been instrumental in developing economies and communities for a better future, providing more than 13,000 development loans to over 160 countries around the globe. Comprising ten development funds, ACG is the second-largest group of development finance institutions in the world and works across the globe to support developing nations and create a lasting, positive impact.
Danah Bourenane
Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development
Phone: +965- 24959373
Email: d.bourenane@arabfund.org
About the Global Partnership for Education
GPE is a shared commitment to ending the world’s learning crisis. We mobilize partners and funds to support over 90 lower-income countries to transform their education systems so that every girl and boy can get the quality education they need to unlock their full potential and contribute to building a better world.
Media contact
Tamara Kummer, GPE Head of Communications
Tel: +1 202 948 5395
About the Islamic Bank for Development:
The purpose of IsDB is to foster socio-economic development in its Member Countries and Muslim Communities in non-Member Countries. The ultimate goal of the IsDB is to promote human development through investing in priority areas such as education, poverty reduction, health and governance.
Media contact
Ahmad Abu Ghazaleh
AGhazaleh@isdb.org Senior PR and External Communications Specialist
Tel: +966555021776