Press Release

MCC Signs Compact with Burkina Faso to Improve Energy Sector, Reduce Poverty

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 13, 2020 — Today, the U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the Government of Burkina Faso signed a compact agreement to reduce poverty through economic growth in Burkina Faso. The $450 million compact was developed in partnership with the Burkinabe government and will invest in the power sector to broaden and sustain the country’s economic growth.

“We are marking a new chapter in the partnership between the United States and the people of Burkina Faso with the signing of this second MCC-Burkina Faso Compact,” MCC CEO Sean Cairncross said. “This compact will address the high cost, poor quality, and low access to electricity in Burkina Faso and will also support the country’s increased participation in regional power markets and the development of a potential MCC regional investment.”

In addition to the $450 million that MCC has pledged for this second compact, the Government of Burkina Faso has pledged to invest $50 million toward the compact’s projects. The combined investment of $500 million is estimated to benefit 8 million people in Burkina Faso through strengthening regulations and institutions, improving energy infrastructure, increasing generation capacity, and source diversification. This will include improved access to electricity for citizens in Burkina Faso’s two largest cities—Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso.

This second compact will build on the success of MCC and Burkina Faso’s first compact agreement, which closed in 2014. The first compact invested $480 million in agriculture, land tenure, water management, roads, and girls’ education. Since the completion of the first compact, the projects have been maintained by relevant Burkinabe government ministries.

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