Forty-four African ministers of finance and of education from 28 countries met in Tunis at a July 2009 conference on "Sustaining the Education and Economic Momentum in Africa amidst the Current Global Financial Crisis." The conference attendees discussed why and how they must exercise joint political leadership during the current global economic crisis to protect the educational development achieved during the past decade. They acknowledged that educational reform is an agenda for the entire government and that strong leadership to foster cross-ministry collaboration, coordination, and mutual accountability is required to ensure that education and training investments are effective in advancing national development and economic progress.