The Financial Times 2007/2008 Seasonal Appeal closed today after raising a total of £1,638,963 for girls’ education in Africa. Readers’ donations will enable Camfed International, the FT’s partner for the Appeal, to support over 5,400 girls through a full secondary education in four African countries – Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Ghana. Additionally, as a result of the tremendous success of the Appeal, Camfed will launch a new country programme in Malawi in 2008.

Camfed, an international non-profit organisation that supports girls’ education in rural communities in Africa, was selected by the Financial Times as its Seasonal Appeal charitable partner for a second consecutive year.

“In the past, the voices of rural girls in Africa have been barely audible. But they have spoken through the pages of the Financial Times these past two months with passion and confidence to a global readership that has listened and responded. The cycle of poverty passed from poor mother to poor child will be ended in the lives of over 5,400 girls and the benefits will resonate down the generations. This is a magnificent legacy and all of us at Camfed are deeply grateful,” said Ann Cotton, Executive Director of Camfed International.

One of the girls selected for a bursary for 2008 is Rabecca, aged 13, who has just completed primary school in rural Zambia. Rabecca has already lost her mother and her father is terminally ill in hospital. When she heard she would be able to progress to secondary school with Camfed’s support, Rabecca said, “This is a dream come true. I really need help because I don’t know for how long my father will live. Thank you Camfed for your help.”

“This total is a truly staggering amount and demonstrates the generosity of our global readership. It has been fascinating for the FT to return to Africa and report on the progress following the £630,000 donated by our readers to Camfed International last year. We are proud to have partnered with Camfed International for this year’s appeal and know that they will put this money to excellent use again in developing education programmes for girls in Africa,” said Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times.

More information on Camfed and the Financial Times Seasonal Appeal can be found at www.ft.com/appeal and www.camfed.org.

About Camfed:

Camfed is an international organisation working since 1993 to solve long-term health, economic and social issues in Africa by investing in girls’ education. In 2007, over 408,000 children in some of the poorest regions of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana and Tanzania benefited from Camfed’s education programme. The organisation has grown in income 50% annually in the past three years. Camfed co-chaired the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative from 2005 to 2007, advises the UK government’s Department for International Development, and its founder and Executive Director, Ann Cotton, was the UK Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004, winner of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2005 and was named a 2008 Outstanding Social Entrepreneur by the Schwab Foundation. www.camfed.org

About the Financial Times:

The Financial Times, one of the world’s leading business newspapers, is recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. Providing extensive news, comment and analysis, the newspaper is printed at 24 print sites across the globe, has a daily circulation of 449,187 (ABC figures, December 2007) and a readership of more than 1.3 million people worldwide. FT.com is one of the world’s leading business information websites, and the internet partner of the FT newspaper. FT.com is the definitive home for business intelligence on the web, providing an essential source of news, comment, data and analysis for the global business community. FT.com attracts 6.5 million unique users, generating 43 million page views. FT.com has 101,000 subscribers.

For further information, please contact:

Kimberley Sevcik, Camfed, T: 415-979-1556 or pr@camfed.org

Jo Crosby, Financial Times, 020 7873 3811 or jo.crosby@ft.com