COP on innovative financing- Designing smart subsidies for early years

Childcare across East Africa remains critically underfunded and fragmented. Providers need upfront capital to renovate space, meet registration standards, and hire staff before they can open their doors, but most cannot access financing, particularly commercial financing. Families, meanwhile, often cannot afford market rates, leaving many priced out of quality care even where it exists nearby. Smart subsidies -targeted, time-bound financing tied to quality and affordability – could help address both sides of this challenge. 

In this session, we will hear from:

Open Capital Advisors, who will share key principles for designing smart subsidies, examples of promising demand- and supply-side models, and opportunities for financing actors to support subsidy design across East Africa. This builds on the Community of Practice they ran, which involved two learning roundtables and an in-person design workshop in Nairobi, bringing together practitioners, policymakers, financiers, funders, and intermediary organisations.

Partnership for Change will share lessons from Ethiopia, where they implement a distinctive supply-side model that offers start-up subsidy support to providers. The model has supported the establishment of 118 early years centres and combines start-up financing with financing planning support and technical assistance.

If you are a funder exploring blended finance structures, a provider navigating the path to sustainability, an intermediary working across this ecosystem, or a policymaker looking to build an enabling environment for childcare financing, we hope you’ll join us.

📆 Thursday 24 September 2026
🕐 08:30am EST | 12:30pm GMT | 3:30pm EAT | 6:00pm IST