ADEA participated in the G20 Education Ministers’ Meeting and the 4th Education Working Group session, held from October 20–22, 2025, at the Skukuza Convention Centre, Mpumalanga, South Africa, under South Africa’s G20 Presidency. The meetings brought together senior policymakers, development partners, and education stakeholders to deliberate on global education priorities and strategies for transformative learning outcomes.

At the event, the Executive Secretary Albert Nsengiyumva commended South Africa’s leadership in uniting G20 member countries around key priorities that reflect both national and continental education agendas.

“We congratulate South Africa — and in particular, the Ministers of Basic and Higher Education — for their outstanding leadership in mobilizing G20 countries and partners around shared priorities for the continent,” said Albert.

He further expressed appreciation for South Africa’s collaboration with ADEA throughout the working groups that shaped the meeting’s final declaration.

“We are deeply grateful to South Africa and the two Ministries for involving ADEA in the discussions that informed the final declaration,” he noted. “As a valued ADEA member, South Africa exemplifies how partnership and cooperation can drive collective progress in education reform.”

Albert emphasized that collaboration, peer learning, and knowledge exchange remain central to ADEA’s mission of supporting African countries to build resilient, inclusive, and sustainable education systems.

The G20 gathering comes at a time when the education sector faces increasing fiscal challenges, with international development aid declining globally. Albert alerted that this trend poses significant risks to achieving goal four of the sustainable development goals (SDG-4) and the continental education goals outlined in frameworks such as the continental education strategy for Africa (CESA 2026–2035), the Continental TVET Strategy 2025–2034, and science, technology and innovation strategy for Africa (STISA 2034), particularly in addressing the learning poverty crisis and skills development.

“Shrinking education financing threatens to reverse progress,” he said. “We must strengthen cooperation and mobilize domestic and innovative financing to sustain momentum toward SDG-4.”

Looking ahead, Albert leveraged the opportunity to mobilize stakeholders for the just concluded ADEA Triennale on Education and Training, held in Accra, Ghana, from October 29–31, 2025, under the theme: Strengthening the Resilience of Africa’s educational systems: advancing towrds ending learning poverty by 2035 with a well-educated and skilled workforce for the continent and beyond. He mentioned that the Triennale will convene ministers, policymakers, and partners to discuss pressing issues including education financing, foundational learning, secondary education and TVSD, teacher professional development, gender, climate adaptation, and the integration of digital technology and AI in education.

“The G20 outcomes reinforce the urgency of these discussions,” Albert said. “We are confident that the Triennale will generate concrete policy actions to guide Africa’s education future and strengthen our collective capacity to deliver quality learning for all.”

On the margins of the G20 meeting, ADEA also participated in the India, Brazil, South Africa (IBSA) and Friends Dialogue on Foundational Learning, convened by the Ministers of Education of India, Brazil, and South Africa. The dialogue focused on advancing political leadership and catalytic financing for foundational learning through two transformative proposals:

• The Heads of State Leaders Network on Foundational Learning, to sustain high-level political commitment and peer collaboration; and
• The Strategic Fund for Foundational Learning, designed to align domestic, philanthropic, and multilateral resources toward measurable early learning outcomes.

He added that the outcomes of both the G20 and IBSA meetings reinforce the urgency of translating political commitments into action ahead of the 2025 ADEA Triennale in Accra, Ghana (October 29–31), where stakeholders will continue to advance shared priorities toward ending learning poverty by 2035.