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Albania Selected for MCC Partnership Following Passage of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Candidate Country Reform Act

For Immediate Release

January 8, 2025

Email: press@mcc.gov

WASHINGTON (January 08, 2025) – On December 23, 2024, the Millennium Challenge Corporation Candidate Country Reform Act became law, authorizing the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to bring its development tools to an increasingly diverse set of countries. MCC’s Board of Directors utilized this new authority to select Albania as eligible to develop a compact designed to help the country reduce poverty through economic growth.

Albania was selected to develop a compact grant program in recognition of the country’s democratic history, the efforts of its institutions to fight corruption and uphold the rule of law, and the ongoing development challenges that Albania continues to face.

The legislation, which resulted from a bipartisan effort, expands MCC’s income pool to include 33 additional countries and positions the agency to engage more deeply in different regions around the world. This reform represents a historic shift that elevates the agency’s mission and impact. Yesterday, MCC released scorecards for this new set of countries.

MCC’s rigorous eligibility criteria and competitive selection process create a powerful incentive for countries to reform their policies even before a program dollar is spent – referred to as “The MCC Effect.” Countries around the world are using MCC’s scorecard as a road map for policy and institutional reforms to qualify for MCC funding and identify where improvements are needed to foster economic growth.

“MCC has a proven model for alleviating poverty by fostering economic growth and good governance, and creating enabling environments for private sector investment,” said MCC CEO Alice Albright. “The MCC Candidate Country Reform Act will bring geographical diversity to MCC’s programs, supercharge the ‘MCC Effect,’ and allow us to tackle growing rates of poverty where it is occurring. We anticipate building lasting relationships in every corner of the world as we look to MCC’s next twenty years.”

The Millennium Challenge Corporation is an independent U.S. government development agency working to reduce global poverty through economic growth. Created in 2004, MCC provides time-limited grants that pair investments in infrastructure with policy and institutional reforms to countries that meet rigorous standards for good governance, fighting corruption and respecting democratic rights.