How does the GPE Multiplier work?
The GPE Multiplier works alongside other sources of external funding. It can be invested as a grant or used to lower the interest rate on concessional lending, for example from multilateral development banks or bilateral donors. It can also work alongside other, non-traditional sources of development finance, including private capital.
Any funding secured through the Multiplier adds to the other GPE grants a country can access, including the system transformation grant and the Girls’ Education Accelerator grant.
All GPE-eligible countries are able to access a Multiplier grant under the 2021-2025 strategic plan.
Securing a Multiplier allocation
Countries secure allocations by submitting an expression of interest (EOI) confirming the type and level of cofinancing.
Securing an allocation depends on meeting several criteria, including sourcing new and additional external support. Each $1 from the Multiplier, up to a country’s allocation ceiling, is expected to unlock new, external funding at a minimum ratio that depends on cofinancing partners involved.
This funding should align to the needs of the education sector and the activities under implementation or planned by national authorities and international partners.
To make it easier to secure an allocation and crowd in new and different sources of funding, two initiatives were launched for the period 2021-2025:
- GPE Match: Private sector partners and foundations can help unlock a Multiplier grant with a ratio of 1:1, i.e. $1 in additional contribution for each $1 from GPE.
- Updated requirements: The sector-level requirements to access Multiplier financing are assessed according to 4 areas:
- equity, efficiency and volume of domestic finance
- sector planning, policy and monitoring
- data and evidence
- sector coordination.
The GPE Secretariat works closely with partner countries to assess their status and ambition in these areas.
A country can decide when it accesses a Multiplier allocation whether it will also assess bottlenecks to system transformation and priority actions to address them with partner and GPE Fund support, or base its program choice and design on another national planning document, such as an active education sector plan.
Allocations for 2021-2025
| Allocation ceiling | Eligible countries |
|---|---|
| Up to US$ 50 million | Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Congo, Dem. Rep., Egypt, Arab Rep., Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Vietnam [18] |
| Up to US$ 40 million | Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Rep., Zambia [18] |
| Up to US$ 30 million | Benin, Burundi, Cambodia, Guinea, Haiti, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Syrian Arab Republic, Zimbabwe [10] |
| Up to US$ 15 million | Bolivia, Central African Republic, Congo, Rep., El Salvador, Honduras, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Liberia, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia, West Bank and Gaza [16] |
| Up to US$ 5 million | Belize, Bhutan, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Dominica, Eritrea, Eswatini, Fiji, Gambia, The, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Kiribati, Lesotho, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Fed. Sts., Mongolia, Moldova, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu [29] |
Smart Education Financing initiative (SmartEd)
The Arab Coordination Group’s Smart Education Financing (SmartEd) is an innovative approach designed to scale up education financing in the 37 member countries of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) – representing more than one-third of GPE partner countries – to get millions more children into school and learning.
ACG SmartEd leverages $4 in external financing for every dollar from the GPE Multiplier.
SmartEd aims to deploy US$850 million in blended funds from the IsDB, the GPE Multiplier, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and the Islamic Solidarity Fund.
This innovative financing instrument was jointly designed by the ACG, with leadership from IsDB and GPE, to leverage the GPE Multiplier.