Unlocking Africa’s potential: Why foundational learning – reading and math skills – must be South Africa’s G20 priority
The 2025 South African G20 presidency can advance foundational learning to address Africa’s learning crisis. Guided by the spirit of ubuntu, it should support investments in essential reading and math skills to avoid the future costs of illiteracy.
In a typical fourth-grade classroom in Africa, only one in 10 children can read a simple story. Yet one of the key goals of early primary education is to equip children with foundational reading and math skills for future success. The G20 Education Working Group (EdWG) has recognised this challenge, acknowledging the importance of quality foundational learning and the role of early childhood education (ECE) in improving learning outcomes. The 2025 South African G20 presidency has the opportunity to build on these commitments and accelerate progress on foundational learning amid Africa’s ongoing learning crisis.
Why is this moment critical?
The statistics are alarming: children in sub-Saharan Africa spend six years in school but gain only three years’ worth of learning. This threatens individual opportunity and undermines the continent’s economic potential, risking $6.5 trillion in lost global productivity. Meanwhile, youth unemployment continues to rise, with 22% of young Africans neither employed nor in education or training. Without foundational skills, children are less likely to complete school and more likely to drop out, and they have fewer employment opportunities, creating a cycle of poverty and instability.
Several factors make this a pivotal moment for foundational learning in Africa:
Economic imperative: With Africa’s workforce growing by 15 million annually, the continent cannot afford to have 90% of potential workers lacking essential literacy and numeracy skills.
Emerging evidence-based solutions – ‘best buys’: There are proven teaching methods such as structured pedagogy, which boosts literacy rates by 46%, and targeted instruction such as Teaching at the Right Level, which can deliver 2.5 years of learning in just one year. These have been identified by the Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel as ‘best buy’ interventions. Good programmes exist, but they need to be implemented at scale.
Unprecedented platform: South Africa’s G20 presidency, guided by the theme of ‘Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability’, provides a unique opportunity to bridge divides between Global North donors and Global South priorities.
Traditional funding models are collapsing precisely when they’re most needed. African nations now spend more on debt servicing (19% of GDP) than on education and healthcare combined. This situation makes it clear that governments need to make every dollar count.
The G20’s track record on foundational learning
Since 2018, the EdWG has consistently prioritised foundational learning, focusing on strengthening outcomes, equitable access and technology integration while emphasising ECE as the foundation for later learning. Recent G20 presidencies have encouraged sharing evidence-based programmes like South Africa’s Early Grade Reading Study, demonstrating that quality, curriculum-aligned materials improve early-grade outcomes. These efforts have successfully raised global awareness and enabled several G20 countries to offer universal ECE. However, spending on foundational learning remains insufficient in many low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa, while the sector also faces qualified teacher shortages and inadequate regulation.
A blueprint for the G20
South Africa’s G20 presidency presents an opportunity to transform this landscape through four key strategies:
Finance differently: Prioritise domestic budgets, use results-based financing and leverage local expertise. Digital tools and AI can boost impact efficiently and cost-effectively.
Go big on what works: Implement proven approaches such as structured pedagogy and targeted instruction continent-wide, building on commitments from the 2024 Africa Foundational Learning Exchange Summit.
Ensure data use and continental accountability: Collect and apply data at all levels to guide policy, measure learning outcomes, develop or revise national plans, inform practice and set targets. Launch a real-time continental dashboard to track progress and empower parents through household learning assessments.
Enable every child to complete the early primary learning journey: A child may benefit from quality ECE, but without a package of quality teaching (pedagogy), aligned learning materials and system support in the early primary grades, progress from ECE risks stalling. As the G20 shapes its ECE for Foundational Learning agenda it must emphasise the need for continued intervention in the early primary grades, encourage the development of budgeted national plans to deliver it and expand investment in research on how to strengthen linkages between ECE and early grade primary reading and math.
How the G20 can lead
The G20 must reposition foundational learning from a social welfare concern to a critical economic enabler. Research shows that just one standard deviation increase in literacy and numeracy scores can generate 2% growth in annual GDP per capita, while high-quality reading programmes deliver a 30:1 return on investment. South Africa can champion the following to show up in the leader’s declaration:
strong language recognising foundational skills as the bedrock for Africa’s economic transformation;
the creation of a ‘G20 Foundational Skills Leaders Network’of heads of state to ensure foundational skills remain at the forefront of global development discourse; and
innovative financing mechanisms, including blended finance models, regional education bonds and results-based financing.
Nelson Mandela called education “the most powerful weapon”. In the spirit of ubuntu that guides South Africa’s G20 presidency, we must recognise our interconnected futures. The G20 must support Africa’s push to invest in foundational reading and math skills today or pay for illiteracy tomorrow. With the evidence we now have, the path forward is clear, and the returns on investment in children’s foundational skills are self-financing through an educated workforce.
* The views expressed in T20 blog posts are those of the author/s.
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Commentary
Unlocking Africa’s potential: Why foundational learning – reading and math skills – must be South Africa’s G20 priority
The 2025 South African G20 presidency can advance foundational learning to address Africa’s learning crisis. Guided by the spirit of ubuntu, it should support investments in essential reading and math skills to avoid the future costs of illiteracy.
In a typical fourth-grade classroom in Africa, only one in 10 children can read a simple story. Yet one of the key goals of early primary education is to equip children with foundational reading and math skills for future success. The G20 Education Working Group (EdWG) has recognised this challenge, acknowledging the importance of quality foundational learning and the role of early childhood education (ECE) in improving learning outcomes. The 2025 South African G20 presidency has the opportunity to build on these commitments and accelerate progress on foundational learning amid Africa’s ongoing learning crisis.
Why is this moment critical?
The statistics are alarming: children in sub-Saharan Africa spend six years in school but gain only three years’ worth of learning. This threatens individual opportunity and undermines the continent’s economic potential, risking $6.5 trillion in lost global productivity. Meanwhile, youth unemployment continues to rise, with 22% of young Africans neither employed nor in education or training. Without foundational skills, children are less likely to complete school and more likely to drop out, and they have fewer employment opportunities, creating a cycle of poverty and instability.
Several factors make this a pivotal moment for foundational learning in Africa:
Traditional funding models are collapsing precisely when they’re most needed. African nations now spend more on debt servicing (19% of GDP) than on education and healthcare combined. This situation makes it clear that governments need to make every dollar count.
The G20’s track record on foundational learning
Since 2018, the EdWG has consistently prioritised foundational learning, focusing on strengthening outcomes, equitable access and technology integration while emphasising ECE as the foundation for later learning. Recent G20 presidencies have encouraged sharing evidence-based programmes like South Africa’s Early Grade Reading Study, demonstrating that quality, curriculum-aligned materials improve early-grade outcomes. These efforts have successfully raised global awareness and enabled several G20 countries to offer universal ECE. However, spending on foundational learning remains insufficient in many low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa, while the sector also faces qualified teacher shortages and inadequate regulation.
A blueprint for the G20
South Africa’s G20 presidency presents an opportunity to transform this landscape through four key strategies:
How the G20 can lead
The G20 must reposition foundational learning from a social welfare concern to a critical economic enabler. Research shows that just one standard deviation increase in literacy and numeracy scores can generate 2% growth in annual GDP per capita, while high-quality reading programmes deliver a 30:1 return on investment. South Africa can champion the following to show up in the leader’s declaration:
Nelson Mandela called education “the most powerful weapon”. In the spirit of ubuntu that guides South Africa’s G20 presidency, we must recognise our interconnected futures. The G20 must support Africa’s push to invest in foundational reading and math skills today or pay for illiteracy tomorrow. With the evidence we now have, the path forward is clear, and the returns on investment in children’s foundational skills are self-financing through an educated workforce.
* The views expressed in T20 blog posts are those of the author/s.
22 Jul 2025
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