How Blended Finance & Impact-Linked Incentives are Reshaping Education in Africa

The Incentives for Learning (IfL) model is a commercially viable loan product developed by IDP Foundation and Global Schools Forum that links school financing directly to measurable improvements in children’s learning outcomes. When schools hit targeted literacy and numeracy benchmarks, they receive a reduction in their loan interest rate as a financial reward.

By linking financial incentives to these schools through existing lending infrastructure, the IfL model creates a direct pathway to reach children who would otherwise be invisible to conventional interventions. This flexible model can enable local markets to find the best solution across a variety of sectors.