If you want your country to be more successful, invest in girls' education, new research shows

• The report shows that 100% secondary school completion rate for girls by 2030 could boost GDP by an average of 10%.
• "We think there's a really compelling investment case here," Ying Qin, an analyst with Citi Global Insights, said.

Investing in education within developing nations to help girls complete high school could boost economic growth in those countries by an average of 10%, according to a new research report by Citi and children's rights organisation Plan International released on Tuesday.

The study looks at eight emerging economies and found that investments that enabled girls to complete secondary education could boost GDP by an average of 10%.

"We found that the total investment that's needed equates to $1.53 per day per girl- that's less than a cup of coffee," Ying Qin, an analyst with Citi Global Insights, said. She added that Citi sees a "really compelling investment case here."

The study looked at investment in girls' education in a mixture of wealthier emerging nations such as India and Egypt, as well as more disadvantaged ones, such as Lao PDR, Bolivia, El Salvador, Egypt, Mali, Uganda and Ghana.

The report deduced a 2.8x return on investment in the time period up to and including 2030, a greater return than other alternative investments, like infrastructure, which according to Citi's model would only return 2.0x on investments.

With 130 million girls worldwide out of school and UNESCO reporting over 11 million girls may not go back to school after the COVID-19 crisis, the scale of the challenge is immense, the study said.

However, this also presents an opportunity. "COVID-19 recovery plans that prioritize investment in girls' education and well-being will help communities and economies build back better and stronger," Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, CEO of Plan International, said in a press release.

The report calls for a "multi-pronged investment approach", with the private sector playing a role alongside governments and charity organizations.

"Most analysis out there that has looked at the economic benefits of investing in girls have very much adopted a siloed approach, so just looking at one area (i.e. education or health), and in the report we make the case that a more comprehensive, multi-component intervention and investment approach can bring the best outcome for girls," Ying said.

The strategy will be of interest to ESG investors, Ying said, adding that there is increasing momentum behind "gender-lens" investing.

"What we are seeing in the past couple of years is that gender-lens investments have grown significantly, so for example, from 2014-2018 publicly available gender-lens mandated investments grew from $100 million to $2.4 billion in assets under management," she added.

"Investing in the development of girls is not only the right thing to do, but it's a key contributor to growth, delivering unparalleled impacts and returns across societies, and that multiplier effect should not be underestimated," Ying said.