Maximizing MCC’s Partnerships in Africa

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Daniel W. Yohannes, Chief Executive Officer

“Africa’s future is up to Africans,” said President Barack Obama during his historic first visit to sub-Saharan Africa.  By partnering effectively with African countries on their homegrown antipoverty strategies, MCC puts this powerful truth into practice. With over 70 percent of MCC’s portfolio benefiting the people of Africa, we are investing in solutions for long-term prosperity that Africans themselves are designing.  These include building transportation networks, increasing agricultural productivity throughout the entire value chain, improving water supply and sanitation, expanding health, education, and community services, and broadening access to finance for greater enterprise development. 

On Tuesday, I met on Capitol Hill with members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).  Congressman Donald Payne and Congresswoman Barbara Lee hosted the gathering, which focused primarily on MCC’s work in Africa.  I shared with them how we are currently working with Malawi and Zambia to develop initial compacts and with Cape Verde to pursue a second compact.  MCC’s Board of Directors will also be considering a threshold program proposal from Liberia.  CBC’s support will help MCC broaden our investments in Africa and forge new partnerships.

My meeting on Wednesday with the African Diplomatic Corps provided a forum to emphasize the importance of sound policy performance to long-term development.  MCC seeks partners committed to good governance, the rule of law, fighting corruption, economic freedoms, and the health and education of their citizens.  We welcome the difficult steps so many African partners are taking to reform their policies and embrace the policy changes necessary for sustainability.

And, yesterday, I joined OPIC, the U.S. Commerce Department, EXIM Bank, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency at the Corporate Council on Africa’s infrastructure conference for a discussion on trade and development.  MCC helps to create strong, stable, growing markets in the developing world, which, in turn, helps to create jobs here at home. By working with African partner countries to remove internal barriers to trade, enhance institutional capacity in areas such as customs and national standards, develop trade-related skills, and build the infrastructure needed to enable trade, MCC is deepening Africa’s capacity to trade and attract private sector investment.

With ongoing guidance from congressional supporters, with countries willing to do their part to practice good policies, and with the private sector’s growing role in fostering trade and development, Africa is poised to fully maximize its partnerships with MCC.  This will deliver meaningful and sustainable change in the lives of the continent’s poor.

Effectively Engaging the Private Sector

Posted on March 4, 2010 by Jason Bauer, Director of Private Sector Initiatives

This week more than 167 companies attended a procurement conference and heard about contracting opportunities arising from projects funded by Millennium Challenge Corporation compacts. Supported by Business Unity South Africa, Standard Bank, and the U.S. Embassy, the conference was hosted at the Development Bank of Southern Africa in Midrand, South Africa. Country teams from Burkina Faso, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, and Tanzania discussed over $3 billion in procurement opportunities, ranging from building roads and water systems to building health centers and schools. The compact in Ghana and compacts still being developed with the governments of Malawi and Zambia were also discussed.

The conference highlighted the business opportunities that ultimately support MCC’s mission of reducing poverty through economic growth. The conferences key themes included the openness and transparency of the procurement processes, the ability for international companies to bid on compact projects and the unique opportunities for U.S. and international suppliers.

Companies attending the conference included those focusing on infrastructure engineering, design, and construction, as well as those providing project management and technical assistance. The resounding message: MCC partner countries throughout Africa are open for business.

MCC: Playing a Pivotal Role in Helping Stop the Spread of HIV/AIDS

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Patricia Moser, Director of Health

Tomorrow, we mark the 21st commemoration of World AIDS Day. In 1988, the World Health Organization designated December 1st to raise awareness about and focus attention on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. There is a link between HIV/AIDS and the work of MCC, particularly in southern Africa where high HIV/AIDS rates constrain economic growth and compound human misery through early deaths, illness, and orphaned children.

Lesotho’s MCC compact signed in 2007, for example, recognizes the economic and human toll of HIV/AIDS. Thirty-four percent of the compact is dedicated to assisting Lesotho’s Ministry of Health and Social Work and the non-governmental sector expand access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and response. The compact provides financing to improve health infrastructure and to strengthen health systems nationwide.

The compact is renovating clinics and staff housing at up to 139 primary health centers throughout the country in an effort to improve the working and living conditions of health staff. The program is also reconfiguring the out-patient departments of 14 of the 19 secondary hospitals in order to provide needed space for integrating HIV/AIDS activities into these departments. Particular attention is being paid during these renovations to reducing the potential spread of tuberculosis in waiting rooms and clinical spaces, providing greater occupational safety for health workers, and decreasing the level of deadly tuberculosis co-infection of HIV positive patients.

In addition to infrastructure improvements, the compact is working to strengthen health systems by funding efforts to improve health care waste management. This reduces the level of infectious medical wastes at health facilities and in communities. It is also improving management systems and capacities for community health, district health management, and hospital out-patient departments. On-the-ground coordination between MCC, MCAthe local entity implementing Lesotho’s MCC compact—USAID, and the Centers for Diseases Control (both implementing agencies for the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, funds) has been exceptionally strong, including the co-location of U.S. Government health-related staff and regular coordination of programming and implementation issues.

Moreover, MCC is looking at issues related to HIV/AIDS issues beyond the health sector. Construction activities in all high prevalence countries require HIV/AIDS mitigation efforts, including HIV/AIDS awareness and education for workers and communities to prevent the spread of HIV, especially as a result of labor migration. MCC compacts in Tanzania and Namibia, and compact development activities in Malawi, pay special attention to HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation in non-health sector activities.

December 1st is an important reminder of global HIV/AIDS prevention efforts, and MCC is committed to working with partner countries to help provide better access to health services and treatment to ensure a better future for those affected.