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Candidate Country Report

Millennium Challenge Corporation Candidate Country Report for Fiscal Year 2027

August 31, 2026

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Summary

This report to Congress is provided in accordance with section 608(a) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, as amended, 22 U.S.C. §§7701, 7707(a) (the Act).

The Act authorizes the provision of assistance through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for countries that enter into a Millennium Challenge Compact with the United States to support policies and programs that advance the progress of such countries to achieve lasting economic growth. Section 607(c)(2) of the Act requires MCC to take a number of steps in selecting countries with which MCC will seek to enter into a compact, including determining the countries that will be eligible countries for fiscal year (FY) 2027 based on (a) a country’s demonstrated commitment to (i) just and democratic governance, (ii) economic freedom, and (iii) investments in its people; (b) the opportunity to reduce poverty and generate economic growth in the country; and (c) the availability of funds to MCC. These steps include the submission to the congressional committees specified in the Act and publication in the Federal Register of reports on the following:

  • The countries that are “candidate countries” for FY 2027 based on their per capita income levels and their eligibility to receive assistance under U.S. law and countries that would be candidate countries but for specified legal prohibitions on assistance (section 608(a) of the Act);
  • The criteria and methodology that the MCC Board of Directors (the Board) will use to measure and evaluate the relative policy performance of the “candidate countries” consistent with the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of section 607 of the Act in order to determine “eligible countries” from among the “candidate countries” (section 608(b) of the Act); and
  • The list of countries determined by the Board to be “eligible countries” for FY 2027, identification of such countries with which the United States, through MCC, will seek to enter into compacts, and a justification for such eligibility determination and selection for compact negotiation (section 608(d) of the Act).

This report is the first of the three required reports listed above.

Candidate Countries for FY 2027

The Act requires the identification of all countries that are candidate countries for purposes of eligibility for MCC compact assistance for FY 2027 and the identification of all countries that would be candidate countries for purposes of eligibility for MCC compact assistance but for specified legal prohibitions on assistance. Under sections 606(a) of the Act, a country is considered a candidate country for FY 2027 if it:

  • has a per capita income that is not greater than the World Bank’s threshold for initiating the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development graduation process for such fiscal year ($8,105 gross national income per capita for FY 2027);
  • is not ineligible to receive United States economic assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (the Foreign Assistance Act), by reason of the application of the Foreign Assistance Act or any other provision of law.

Pursuant to section 606(b) of the Act, the Board identified the following countries as candidate countries under the Act for FY 2027. In so doing, the Board referred to the prohibitions on assistance to countries for FY 2026 under the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2026 (Div. F, P.L. 119-75) (FY 2026 NSRP).

Candidate Countries

  1. Algeria
  2. Angola
  3. Azerbaijan
  4. Bangladesh
  5. Belize
  6. Benin
  7. Bhutan
  8. Bolivia
  9. Botswana
  10. Burundi
  11. Cabo Verde
  12. Cambodia
  13. Cameroon
  14. Central African Republic
  15. Colombia
  16. Comoros
  17. Congo, Democratic Republic of the
  18. Congo, Republic of the
  19. Côte d’Ivoire
  20. Djibouti
  21. Ecuador
  22. Egypt
  23. El Salvador
  24. Equatorial Guinea
  25. Eswatini
  26. Ethiopia
  27. Fiji
  28. Gabon
  29. Gambia, The
  30. Ghana
  31. Guatemala
  32. Guinea
  33. Guinea-Bissau1
  34. Haiti
  35. Honduras
  36. India
  37. Indonesia
  38. Iraq
  39. Jamaica
  40. Jordan
  41. Kenya
  42. Kiribati
  43. Kosovo
  44. Kyrgyz Republic
  45. Lao PDR
  46. Lebanon
  47. Lesotho
  48. Liberia
  49. Libya
  50. Madagascar2
  51. Malawi
  52. Mauritania
  53. Micronesia, Federated States of
  54. Moldova
  55. Mongolia
  56. Morocco
  57. Mozambique
  58. Namibia
  59. Nepal
  60. Nigeria
  61. Pakistan
  62. Papua New Guinea
  63. Paraguay
  64. Philippines
  65. Rwanda
  66. Samoa
  67. Sao Tome and Principe
  68. Senegal
  69. Sierra Leone
  70. Solomon Islands
  71. Somalia
  72. South Africa
  73. Sri Lanka
  74. Suriname
  75. Syria
  76. Tajikistan
  77. Tanzania
  78. Thailand
  79. Timor-Leste
  80. Togo
  81. Tonga
  82. Tunisia
  83. Turkmenistan
  84. Uganda
  85. Ukraine
  86. Uzbekistan
  87. Vanuatu
  88. Venezuela
  89. Vietnam
  90. Yemen
  91. Zambia

Countries that Would Be Candidate Countries but for Legal Provisions that Prohibit Assistance

Countries that would be considered candidate countries for purposes of eligibility for MCC compact assistance for FY 2027 but are ineligible to receive United States economic assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act by reason of the application of any provision of the Foreign Assistance Act or any other provision of law are listed below. This list is based on legal prohibitions against economic assistance that apply as of August 12, 2026.

Prohibited Countries

  1. Afghanistan is ineligible to receive foreign assistance pursuant to section 706 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-228), addressing major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries, and its status as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.). There is also a restriction on assistance to the Taliban in section 7044(a) of the FY 2026 NSRP.
  2. Burkina Faso is ineligible to receive foreign assistance pursuant to the military coup restriction in section 7008 of the FY 2026 NSRP.
  3. Burma is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it is subject to numerous restrictions including for concerns regarding its record on human rights and pursuant to the military coup restriction in section 7008 of the FY 2026 NSRP, and pursuant to section 7043(a) of the FY 2026 NSRP.
  4. Chad is ineligible to receive foreign assistance pursuant to its status as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).
  5. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it is subject to numerous restrictions including pursuant to section 7007 of the FY 2026 NSRP and its status as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).
  6. Eritrea is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it is subject to numerous restrictions including for concerns relative to its record on human rights and pursuant to its status as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).
  7. Iran is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it is subject to numerous restrictions including pursuant to section 7007 of the FY 2026 NSRP and its status as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).
  8. Mali is ineligible to receive foreign assistance pursuant to the military coup restriction in section 7008 of the FY 2026 NSRP.
  9. Nicaragua is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it is subject to numerous restrictions including pursuant to section 7047(c) of the FY 2026 NSRP related to its recognition posture with respect to the Russian Federation occupied Georgian territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia and its status as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).
  10. Niger is ineligible to receive foreign assistance pursuant to the military coup restriction in section 7008 of the FY 2026 NSRP.
  11. South Sudan is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it is subject to numerous restrictions including for concerns relative to its record on human rights, and pursuant to its status as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).
  12. Sudan is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it is subject to numerous restrictions including pursuant to the military coup restriction in section 7008 of the FY 2026 NSRP.
  13. Zimbabwe is ineligible to receive foreign assistance, including pursuant to section 7042(h)(2) of the FY 2026 NSRP, which prohibits (with limited exceptions) assistance for the central government of Zimbabwe unless the Secretary of State certifies and reports to Congress that the rule of law has been restored, including respect for ownership and title to property and freedoms of expression, association, and assembly.

Countries identified above as candidate countries, as well as countries that would be considered candidate countries but for the applicability of legal provisions that prohibit U.S. economic assistance, may be the subject of future statutory restrictions or determinations (e.g. a country being ranked on Tier 3 in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report issued by the U.S. Department of State, which has not received an appropriate waiver), or changed country circumstances, that affect their legal eligibility for assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act by reason of application of the Foreign Assistance Act or any other provision of law for FY 2027.

Footnotes
  • 1. Guinea-Bissau shall be considered a candidate country to the extent it is deemed to be consistent with law.
  • 2. Madagascar shall be considered a candidate country to the extent it is deemed to be consistent with law.

2026-001-3169-02