The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) used the 2026 Kwahu Business Forum to court private sector investment in Ghana’s education system, showcasing a new digital financing tool and a partnership framework designed to reduce the sector’s dependence on public funds.
At the heart of GETFund’s exhibition was the Education Financing and Partnership Initiative (EFPI), a model built to draw voluntary contributions from individuals and corporate bodies through channels that sit outside conventional tax-based mechanisms. The initiative featured a digital contribution system allowing users to make direct education funding contributions via a QR code scan, a step officials described as central to broadening GETFund’s funding base.
The EFPI stand drew considerable traffic during the three-day forum at the Kwahu Convention Centre in Mpraeso, culminating in a visit by President John Dramani Mahama, who received a briefing on how the initiative could reshape education project financing.
The 2026 forum, held under the theme “The Future of Business: The Role of the Financial Sector,” brought together policymakers, financial institutions, and investors to examine Ghana’s economic priorities. GETFund used the platform to position itself as an institution open to market-driven solutions at a time when demand for educational infrastructure is outpacing available government resources.
President Mahama reaffirmed government support for the forum as a permanent fixture for investment dialogue and public-private collaboration, noting its growing role in connecting policy with capital.
For GETFund, aligning with that agenda carries strategic weight. The fund is simultaneously navigating an expanded mandate after the government uncapped it to help finance the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme, adding pressure on its traditional revenue streams. Officials see the EFPI as a means of building alternative, sustainable inflows to meet infrastructure and human capital demands without straining the levy-backed base that underpins the fund’s core operations.
Stakeholders at the forum said innovations of this kind could serve as a model for mobilising private financing across other public service sectors.
