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Press Release

MCC and IGD Host Event Highlighting American Private Sector Opportunities in Global Development

Roundtable discussion featured Paul Hinks, CEO of Symbion Power and Eric Pike, Chairman & CEO of Pike Electric and was moderated by Robert A. Mosbacher Jr., Chairman of the Board of the Initiative for Global Development.

For Immediate Release

April 7, 2011

Washington, DC— The U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Chief Executive Officer Daniel W. Yohannes, today hosted a roundtable discussion to highlight opportunities for U.S. businesses in global development. The event, co-hosted with the Initiative for Global Development (IGD), was moderated by Robert A. Mosbacher, Jr., Chairman of the Board of IGD and former President & CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

In October 2010, two U.S. firms, Symbion Power and Pike Electric, were awarded contracts on a significant portion of MCC’s Tanzania Compact’s $206 million energy portfolio. These two companies will install more than 1,700 kilometers of power lines in six regions in Tanzania, providing electricity to over 330 communities previously without power.  The roundtable event focused on MCC’s contracting processes and the success that the two companies have had working with MCC.

"MCC investments look to remove constraints to growth so that the private sector will invest and flourish in our partner countries,” stated Mr. Yohannes. "These investments are helping to build markets for U.S. exports and to increase business activity, which will mean increased growth and job opportunities here at home. These investments are also helping to put our partner countries on the path to self-sufficiency. Symbion and Pike Electric are excellent examples of the success that can be achieved when MCC partners with U.S. private sector firms.”

In addition to their work in Tanzania, Symbion and Pike are using their own corporate social responsibility funds to establish a unique program to train Tanzanian construction workers.  The companies established the Symbion/Pike Power Center in Morogoro and they also sent three experienced Tanzanian lineman to Northwest Lineman College in Meridian, Idaho, where these Tanzanian workers learned about US standards for electrical systems, accident prevention, and construction methods. The Symbion/Pike Power Center will train over 200 Tanzanians who will work on the construction crews on the MCC-funded transmission and distribution project.

"MCC has created a contracting structure that I believe is the best model for U.S government contracts,” stated Mr. Paul Hinks, CEO of Symbion Power. "This structure will help provide more opportunities for American companies, like Symbion Power, to participate in global development.”

Eric Pike, Chairman and CEO of Pike Electric stated, "The Pike companies are excited to support MCC’s mission of ‘Poverty reduction through economic growth’ by expanding the power grid in Tanzania and we look forward to partnering on other opportunities around the world.”

Speakers at the roundtable discussion included MCC CEO Daniel Yohannes; Paul Hinks of Symbion Power; Eric Pike, Chairman and CEO of Pike Electric; and Aaron Howell, President of Northwestern Linemen College. Tanzanian workers participating in the training program also briefly discussed their experiences. Guests included private sector companies from the energy and other sectors.

To learn more about MCC partnerships with the private sector please visit: http://www.mcc.gov/pages/business/psi

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Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. Government agency designed to work with developing countries, is based on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces sound political, economic, and social policies that promote poverty reduction through economic growth. 

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