Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans her Department has to provide funding (a) directly and (b) indirectly to (i) Bridge International Academies and (ii) its parent or subsidiary companies.

Through CDC, the UK’s Development Finance Institution, DFID has invested a total of $8.8m in Bridge International Academies (BIA) for its global operations in Africa and India. An investment of $1.6m was made in 2016. The remainder was invested in 2013 and 2014. These are long term capital investments made to fund expansion of BIA’s business in Africa. In addition, a DFID £3.45m grant, awarded competitively, was also provided to open 23 Bridge academies in Lagos, Nigeria. This grant is now completed. There are no current plans to provide additional funding.