Compacts are five-year agreements between MCC and an eligible country to fund specific programs targeted at reducing poverty and stimulating economic growth. MCC’s compact development process reflects principles of transparency and accountability. In compact development, MCC invests considerable effort in gathering useful data, evidence, or other information to inform decisions; identifying clear, measurable objectives for each investment project; building monitoring and evaluation approaches directly to each project’s design; and assessing likely impacts and reporting actual results. In FY 2024, MCC partnered to develop or implement compacts with The Gambia, Zambia, Togo, Cóte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cabo Verde, Timor-Leste, Benin, Mozambique, Belize, Sierra Leone, Mongolia, Nepal, Kosovo, Lesotho, Malawi, Indonesia, and Niger.
Compacts in Development as of September 30, 2024
During FY 2024, MCC continued to work with six countries to develop potential compacts and continued developing potential concurrent compacts with three partner countries in West Africa.
The Gambia
MCC continues to work with the Government of The Gambia to design a compact that increases the number of skilled graduates through improvements in the quality of and access to secondary education and creates a cost-effective river transport route for goods. MCC management aims to submit the compact to MCC’s Board in 2025.
Zambia
MCC and the Government of Zambia developed a compact that aims to support Zambia’s growth by catalyzing increased investment in agriculture and agro-processing on-farm productivity, economic diversification, and job creation, especially in agriculture-related off-farm manufacturing and services. The compact addresses the critically important livelihood and food security needs of Zambia’s poorest citizens. The projects are designed to lower the cost of transporting farm products and processed goods to market, increase the availability of equipment financing for small and medium farmers and processors, and catalyze reforms in the agriculture sector to attract greater private investment. It also includes funding to partner with the DFC, through the ACFD Project, to identify opportunities to further invest in Zambia’s private sector.
Togo
In April 2024, the Government of Togo adopted a new constitution in a non-transparent process and increasingly restricted fundamental freedoms, raising substantial concerns about the country’s commitment to the principles of inclusive democratic governance that underpin MCC’s country eligibility criteria. Following initial engagement with the Government of Togo on these concerns, MCC removed Togo from a fast-track program development process in June to provide time for MCC to engage more deeply with the Government of Togo to encourage the adoption of substantive reforms that will strengthen the protection of fundamental freedoms for Togolese and the ability of the political opposition to participate in governance. MCC has noted that a failure to do so could lead to additional adverse consequences for its partnership with Togo. In the meantime, MCC has continued to work with the Government of Togo to consider projects and activities in the energy sector that would increase access to more reliable energy to address issues with quality, cost and access of Togo’s electricity grid, as well as disparities between connectivity in urban and rural areas.
Côte d’Ivoire Regional
MCC and the Government of Côte d’Ivoire have developed and negotiated a $300 million concurrent compact for regional integration, with an additional $22.5 million contribution from the Government of Côte d’Ivoire. This compact was approved by the MCC’s Board on September 18, 2024, and will aim to increase the net quantity of energy traded by Côte d’Ivoire on the regional electricity market to provide sustainable and affordable power to Côte d’Ivoire and the broader West African region. The program will also support the Government of Côte d’Ivoire’s goal of becoming the hub for energy exchange in West Africa while also yielding economic benefits to Côte d’Ivoire and the West Africa regional energy market. The program is designed to work with regional partners, including the West African Power Pool and the Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority. MCC expects to sign the compact with the Government of Côte d’Ivoire in early 2025.
Senegal Regional
In December 2022, MCC’s Board selected Senegal as eligible to develop a concurrent regional compact. MCC, in partnership with the Government of Senegal, conducted a sector prioritization analysis to identify priority areas for MCC assistance. In October 2023, Senegal decided to pursue investments in the “blue economy” for the proposed concurrent regional compact. Throughout FY 2024, MCC and the Government of Senegal’s compact development team conducted a range of stakeholder engagements to begin refining the scope and drafting concept notes in the fishing, horticulture, and tourism sectors. MCC management expects to receive draft concept notes in early FY 2025.
Cabo Verde Regional
MCC’s Board selected Cabo Verde as eligible to develop a regional compact in December 2023. MCC and the Government of Cabo Verde conducted a sector prioritization analysis to identify areas for regional economic growth and integration, ultimately selecting inter-island, international, and intermodal transport and digital connectivity. In August 2024, the Government of Cabo Verde fully onboarded the government’s compact development team. The next step is to conduct a root cause analysis in the selected sectors.
Signed Compacts That Have Not Entered into Force as of September 30, 2024
Note: For MCC’s financial reporting, disbursements are expenditures. At the time of compact signing, most funding is committed with a subset focusing on compact facilitation prior to implementation being obligated. The remaining portion of compact funds are fully obligated, and the five-year compact term launches when the signed compact enters into force.
Timor-Leste
MCC and the Government of Timor-Leste signed a $420 million compact on July 19, 2022, with an anticipated additional contribution of $64 million from the Government of Timor-Leste. The Timor-Leste Compact aims to address the binding constraint of human-capital through two projects focused on improving the health and skills of the Timorese population. The Water, Sanitation and Drainage Project seeks to reduce the presence of disease-causing pathogens in piped and stored water and groundwater through the construction of the country’s first central wastewater system, related drainage network improvements, and a plant to produce the disinfectant needed to treat the water supply across the capital city of Dili and four municipalities. In July 2024, the Government of Timor-Leste, through the Council of Ministers, approved a resolution to proceed with land acquisition for the proposed wastewater treatment plant. The Teaching and Leading the Next Generation of Timorese (TALENT) Project seeks to improve student learning outcomes in numeracy, literacy and soft skills by investing in the training of secondary school teachers and school leadership. The TALENT Project will establish a ‘center of excellence’ as the first formal pre-service teacher training and certification institution in Timor-Leste for secondary education. As MCC and the Government of Timor-Leste prepare for compact launch in 2025, focus is concentrated on satisfying key conditions precedent and carrying out critical preparatory activities for the compact projects.
Benin Regional
On December 14, 2022, MCC signed its first concurrent regional compacts with Benin and Niger. This program was initially designed to rehabilitate portions of the existing transport corridor between Cotonou in Benin and Niamey in Niger. Although the Niger concurrent regional compact was not able to proceed following a coup there (as discussed above), the $202 million Benin Concurrent Regional compact is continuing to be developed with a modified focus on 77 kilometers of road between the cities of Bohicon and Dassa, Benin. The Government of Benin has committed to contributing an additional $204 million, which is notably the first time a MCC partner country will contribute more than the U.S. government toward a compact. MCA-Benin Regional is fully staffed and operational. The compact is projected to launch in early 2025.
Mozambique
MCC and the Government of the Republic of Mozambique signed the $500 million Mozambique Connectivity and Coastal Resilience Compact on September 21, 2023, with a $37.5 million additional contribution from the Government of the Republic of Mozambique. The compact targets economic growth in the province of Zambezia through three integrated projects: the Connectivity and Rural Transport Project to improve the reach and resiliency of the transport network, including vast improvements to the national road maintenance facility; the Promoting Reform and Investment in Agriculture Project, which includes a series of fiscal reforms to improve the business-enabling environment and incentivize greater investment in commercial agriculture while promoting investment and improved inputs to smallholder famers; and the Coastal Livelihoods and Resilience Project, which seeks to improve the resiliency and economic opportunity for coastal communities through conservation and improved fisheries. All three projects include robust protections for women and youth, with specific programming to address barriers to women’s mobility and participation, combatting gender-based violence, and curbing trends of human trafficking. In FY 2024, establishment of MCA-Moçambique began, including the first MCA-Moçambique board meeting and hiring of the MCA-Moçambique key staff. The compact is expected to launch in 2025. At the date of publication, MCC was closely monitoring questions surrounding the credibility of the October 2024 general elections and related civil liberties and rule of law concerns.
Belize
Within a year of signing the $10 million compact development funding agreement in March 2023, MCC and the Government of Belize finalized the design of the $125 million Education & Energy Compact. The compact will address two identified binding constraints to growth—low quality of education and high cost of electricity—through two projects with investments in post-primary education and renewable energy. MCC and the Government of Belize successfully negotiated the compact in April with a sizable country contribution of $40.7 million from the Government of Belize. The compact will tackle challenges related to low-quality education and high electricity costs by equitably increasing the number of post-primary graduates with the competencies relevant to labor market demands and lowering the wholesale cost of electricity. Following MCC Board’s approval in late June and the Belizean Parliament’s passage of legislation to create MCA-Belize in August, CEO Albright and Prime Minister of Belize John Briceno signed the compact on September 4th, in Belize City. The compact is expected to enter into force in mid-2025.
Sierra Leone
MCC’s $481 million Sierra Leone Power Compact, together with a voluntary contribution of $14.2 million from the Government of Sierra Leone, will support economic growth in Sierra Leone through investments in the energy sector to address insufficient availability of affordable and reliable electricity. The compact will lay the foundation for a modern and reliable electricity sector through investments in transmission and distribution infrastructure, strengthened interconnection to the West African Power Pool, capacity building support for the utilities and key sector institutions, and reforms to catalyze private sector investment in power generation. CEO Alice Albright and Sierra Leone Minister of Finance Sheku Bangura signed the compact on September 27, 2024, in Washington, DC. The program signing follows significant progress made by the Government of Sierra Leone and Sierra Leonean stakeholders to implement the Agreement for National Unity, which provides a pathway toward electoral reform and inter-party dialogue, and progress toward implementing the recommendations of the Tripartite Electoral Review Committee report, including cabinet adoption of a timed implementation plan for reforms. The compact is expected to enter into force in 2026.
MCC Partner Countries with Compacts in Implementation
Eight countries in MCC’s portfolio had compacts in implementation as of September 30, 2024. Compact implementation begins upon entry into force of the compact agreement, launching the start of the five-year implementation period. Each compact is managed and implemented by an accountable entity, generally known as the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), established by the partner country government. Key implementation milestones from FY 2024 are described below. Table 2 shows FY 2024 compact obligations and expenditures.
Côte d’Ivoire
MCC is supporting the Government of Côte d’Ivoire and its goal to diversify its economy through projects in skills development and transportation through a $536.7 million compact that launched on August 5, 2019. The Ivoirian government has committed a country contribution of $22 million to support compact implementation. The goal of the Abidjan Transport Project is to reduce transport costs and travel times along targeted road segments, in and around the port of Abidjan, while improving overall pedestrian and vehicle mobility and safety. While Ivorian displacement disputes resulted in MCC suspending compact-funded work on two roadways, good progress was made on the two remaining roadways in FY 2024. The goal of the Skills for Employability and Productivity Project is to increase access to quality secondary education, along with improved governance of the education sector. In FY 2024, the first five of 40 compact-funded secondary schools were opened, and construction is underway on the remaining 35 secondary schools, three Technical and Vocational Education and Training centers, and two teacher training campuses. The compact end date is August 5, 2025.
Mongolia
MCC’s $350 million Mongolia Water Compact aims to sustainably increase Ulaanbaatar’s water supply, helping it avoid an imminent water shortage and supporting economic development. The Mongolian government has committed a country contribution of $111.8 million to support compact implementation. The compact, which launched on March 31, 2021, is now in its fourth and penultimate year of implementation. Throughout FY 2024, MCA-Mongolia continued making substantial progress on construction work to ensure that the most significant pieces of infrastructure for the compact—the advanced water purification plant and the wastewater recycling plant—are commissioned and completed by mid to late 2025. In May 2024, the President of Mongolia, along with an accompanying delegation, toured the site of the advanced water purification plant, significantly raising the profile of the compact in the country. In early September, MCA-Mongolia and MCC held a program closure workshop in Ulaanbaatar to engage Government of Mongolia stakeholders on their obligations vis-a-vis the compact closure, and all parties will continue to work diligently to ensure necessary steps to finalize the program are in place. The compact end date is March 31, 2026.
Senegal
MCC’s $550 million Senegal Power Compact is designed to strengthen the country’s power sector by increasing reliability and access to electricity and by helping the Government of Senegal establish a modern and efficient foundation upon which the nation’s power system can grow. The Government of Senegal has committed a country contribution of $50 million. Investments focus on electricity sector policy, institutional and regulatory reform, upgrading the high-voltage transmission network in and around Dakar, and expanding rural electricity access through distribution network upgrades and enhancements to consumer-side elements. Ensuring consistent and affordable access to electricity in Senegal is expected to allow businesses to grow, catalyze private sector investment, increase productivity and employment, and ultimately support the diversification and growth of Senegal’s economy. In FY 2024, MCA-Senegal II signed the compact’s final major works contract to begin construction to extend the electrical grid in select rural and peri-urban communities in Senegal’s south and central regions. Construction has also begun to modernize substations and install underground and undersea high voltage transmission lines in the Dakar region. The compact end date is September 9, 2026.
Nepal
MCC’s $500 million compact with Nepal aims to increase the availability of reliable electricity, improve road quality and facilitate power trade between Nepal and India. The Government of Nepal has committed an additional $197 million toward the compact program, for a combined total investment of $697 million. The compact launched on August 30, 2023. Over the course FY 2024, the compact’s first year of implementation, MCA-Nepal signed four critical works contracts under the Electricity Transmission Project for the construction of three new substations and a cross-border transmission line segment that will enable Nepal to export clean hydropower to India. The compact end date is August 30, 2028.
Kosovo
The $202 million compact with the Government of Kosovo launched on April 30, 2024, with the Government of Kosovo contributing an additional $34.7 million. The compact is designed to help accelerate Kosovo’s transition to a more sustainable, inclusive, reliable and affordable energy future via three projects supporting the energy sector. The Energy Storage Project will support battery storage systems designed to enable Kosovo’s transmission system and market operator to cost-effectively smooth out imbalances in the electricity grid. The Just and Equitable Transition Acceleration (JETA) Project will equip Kosovans, especially women, with the skills necessary to pursue careers in the energy sector through equitable access to quality education, training, and other opportunities. The American Catalyst Facility for Development (ACFD) Project aims to leverage financing from U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to support one or more blended finance transitions to catalyze private investment in Kosovo to complement the objectives of the Energy Storage and JETA Projects. In FY 2024, MCA-Kosovo made substantial strides in compact implementation, including fully establishing MCA-Kosovo, and hosting an implementation workshop that brought MCA-Kosovo and MCC team members to Prishtina to strategize on the next five years of compact implementation. MCA-Kosovo also signed formal cooperation agreements with the Kosovan Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, and the University of Prishtina to advance key compact components. Furthermore, the Government of Kosovo established ESCorp, a government-owned enterprise specifically established to own and manage 125 megawatts of battery energy storage system capacity being developed under the compact. Under the JETA project, the University of Prishtina’s governing board has formally approved the establishment of the Center for Energy Skills and Innovation. This center will provide technical training programs tailored to meet the skills demands of employers in the energy and related sectors. The compact end date is April 30, 2029.
Lesotho
MCC’s $300 million Health and Horticulture Compact with Lesotho launched on March 30, 2024, with the Government of Lesotho committing an additional $22.3 million. The compact aims to address the binding constraint of ineffective policy planning, coordination, and execution that prevents the Government of Lesotho from delivering public goods and services essential for private sector growth. The compact consists of projects in health, irrigated horticulture, and business environment strengthening. It also includes an investment through the ACFD mechanism, a collaboration between MCC and the DFC. The Health Systems Strengthening Project aims to strengthen the delivery of primary health care services, improve the efficiency of government expenditures, modernize and make interoperable health data systems, and address the unique needs of gender-based violence treatment and referral services. The Market Driven Irrigated Horticulture Project aims to catalyze private sector investment in horticulture through investments in irrigation infrastructure and policy reform while providing technical support to local communities and creating transparent and sustainable access to land and water. The Business Environment and Technical Assistance Project will work across key productive sectors like agriculture, creative industries, manufacturing and tourism to support the growth of existing and new firms through establishment of an effective communication framework with the government, technical assistance, business development services, and linkages to financing opportunities. To ensure inclusive growth, the projects include targeted strategies to empower women and youth. Since beginning implementation in March 2024, MCA-Lesotho has released all major procurements and is focused on initiating work under contracts already awarded. The compact end date is March 30, 2029.
Malawi
MCC and the Government of Malawi signed the $350 million Malawi Transport and Land Compact on September 28, 2022, with the Government of Malawi committing an additional $26.3 million. The compact launched on May 6, 2024. The compact aims to improve land efficiency as a critical production input for economic growth and increase competitiveness in the agriculture and transport sectors. The Land Project activities include strengthening estate sector management by renewing estate leaseholds or reallocating them for higher-value use and achieving more productive use of land through better-funded land administration in rural and urban environments. The Agricultural Growth Corridors Project aims to reduce the costs of transport and support commercial agricultural value chains by reducing the costs of doing business for firms and farmers in targeted rural areas. The ACFD Project is a joint effort between MCC and the DFC to identify opportunities to further invest in Malawi’s private sector. The compact will integrate climate resiliency in its investments and foster inclusivity by incorporating women and smallholders into reforms. The compact end date is May 6, 2029.
Indonesia
The $649 million Indonesia Infrastructure and Finance Compact, which aims to increase access to finance for infrastructure and women-owned small businesses, launched on September 4, 2024, with an additional anticipated contribution of $49 million from the Government of Indonesia. Prior to launching, MCA-Indonesia II worked in close collaboration with MCC and the Government of Indonesia to satisfy all conditions to entry into force, including the hiring of all MCA-Indonesia II key staff and the promulgation of an essential regulation governing tax treatment and asset transfer under the program, amongst others. In July 2024, MCC CEO Alice Albright traveled to Indonesia to congratulate government and other partners on implementation progress to date and raise the visibility of the compact’s benefits for the Indonesian people. Other major events and achievements in FY 2024 included the official launch of the compact’s over $50 million Blended Finance Delivery Mechanism Activity, the mobilization of MCA-Indonesia II’s project management consultant to support successful compact implementation, the advancement of full feasibility studies for six good practice infrastructure projects that the compact may later support using blended finance, and a joint MCC/MCA-Indonesia II workshop to onboard all new staff and finalize year one implementation planning. The compact end date is September 4, 2029.
| Activity in Fiscal Year 2024 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Section 609 (g) Compact Facilitation Funding | Section 605 Assistance | ||||
| (Partner Country) | (Total Compact Amount, Including Amendments) | (Obligations) | (Expenditures) | (Obligations) | (Expenditures) |
| Belize | 125.0 | 10.7 | |||
| Benin (Regional) | 202.0 | 3.6 | |||
| Cote d’Ivoire | 536.7 | 0.2 | 112.0 | ||
| Indonesia | 649.0 | 3.0 | 624.8 | ||
| Kosovo | 202.0 | 4.5 | 180.8 | ||
| Lesotho | 300.0 | 7.2 | 269.7 | 0.8 | |
| Malawi | 350.0 | 7.8 | 328.9 | ||
| Mongolia | 350.0 | 89.7 | |||
| Mozambique | 500.0 | 2.3 | |||
| Nepal | 500.0 | (16.5) | 16.5 | 19.3 | |
| Niger | 442.6 | 83.7 | |||
| Senegal | 550.0 | 144.1 | |||
| Sierra Leone | 480.7 | 42.3 | |||
| Timor-Leste | 420.0 | 5.2 | |||
MCC Partner Countries That Closed Compacts in Fiscal Year 2024
Since MCC’s founding, MCC and its partner countries have completed or closed 33 compacts, totaling more than $10.8 billion in total expenditures (Table 1). This figure does not include compacts in development or implementation.
Niger
MCC and Niger signed a compact in 2016 and a concurrent regional compact in 2022. In September 2023, MCC’s Board suspended Niger’s eligibility for assistance following the July 2023 coup d’état. In June 2024, MCC concluded that Niger’s military actions against the democratically elected government constituted a clear pattern of actions inconsistent with MCC’s eligibility criteria. As a result, MCC terminated all funding for Niger under the 2022 concurrent regional compact. MCC wound down the 2016 compact, which closed on January 26, 2024 and reported $413.2 million in final disbursements. Key achievements of the 2016 compact included rehabilitating the largest irrigation system in Niger, installing 104 solar-powered wells in Dosso, and improving water management across 2,450 hectares. Over 7,000 farming families gained skills in literacy, productivity, and land tenure. Additionally, 300 kilometers of market access roads were rehabilitated, reducing the cost of transportation and boosting trade. Nationally, the compact reformed its fertilizer policy to allow greater private sector participation, and improved road maintenance management and access to agricultural statistics. The compact also built 14 modern livestock markets, supported four national livestock vaccination campaigns, established 27 rural veterinary clinics, and restored native shrubs and grasses on 100,000 hectares. The compact also improved 750 kilometers of livestock corridors, which created safe and effective passage networks for pastoralists and their livestock, and distributed over 17,000 small ruminant kits, amounting to over 68,000 livestock animals, which benefited mainly rural women engaged in small ruminant husbandry. $9 million in grants were provided to 86 rural associations engaged in production, processing and marketing of agricultural products, benefitting their many women and youth members.
| Partner Country | Date Compact Signed | Compact End Date | Compact Obligations as of September 30, 2024 (in millions of dollars) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madagascar | April 18, 2005 | August 31, 2009 | $85.6 |
| Honduras | June 14, 2005 | September 30, 2010 | $204.0 |
| Cabo Verde | July 5, 2005 | October 18, 2010 | $108.5 |
| Nicaragua | July 15, 2005 | May 26, 2011 | $112.7 |
| Georgia | September 12, 2005 | April 7, 2011 | $387.2 |
| Benin | February 22, 2006 | October 6, 2011 | $301.8 |
| Vanuatu | March 2, 2006 | April 28, 2011 | $65.4 |
| Armenia | March 27, 2006 | September 29, 2011 | $176.6 |
| Ghana | August 1, 2006 | February 16, 2012 | $536.3 |
| Mali | November 13, 2006 | August 24, 2012 | $434.3 |
| El Salvador | November 29, 2006 | September 20, 2012 | $449.6 |
| Mozambique | July 13, 2007 | September 22, 2013 | $447.9 |
| Lesotho | July 23, 2007 | September 17, 2013 | $358.0 |
| Morocco | August 31, 2007 | September 15, 2013 | $650.1 |
| Mongolia | October 22, 2007 | September 17, 2013 | $269.0 |
| Tanzania | February 17, 2008 | February 17, 2013 | $694.5 |
| Burkina Faso | July 14, 2008 | July 31, 2014 | $474.7 |
| Namibia | July 28, 2008 | September 16, 2014 | $295.7 |
| Senegal | September 16, 2009 | September 23, 2015 | $433.3 |
| Moldova | January 22, 2010 | September 1, 2015 | $259.4 |
| Philippines | September 23, 2010 | May 25, 2016 | $385.1 |
| Jordan | October 25, 2010 | December 13, 2016 | $272.9 |
| Malawi | April 7, 2011 | September 20, 2018 | $344.8 |
| Indonesia | November 19, 2011 | April 2, 2018 | $474.0 |
| Cabo Verde | February 10, 2012 | November 30, 2017 | $65.6 |
| Zambia | May 10, 2012 | November 15, 2018 | $332.1 |
| Georgia | July 26, 2013 | July 1, 2019 | $138.6 |
| Ghana | August 5, 2014 | June 6, 2022 | $310.8 |
| El Salvador | September 30, 2014 | September 9, 2020 | $270.7 |
| Benin | September 9, 2015 | June 22, 2023 | $389.2 |
| Liberia | October 2, 2015 | January 20, 2021 | $237.8 |
| Morocco | November 30, 2015 | March 31, 2023 | $449.4 |
| Niger | July 29, 2016 | January 26, 2024 | $413.2 |
| Total | $10,828.8 | ||
MCC Threshold Programs: Results Through Reforms
Threshold programs support candidate countries to make policy and institutional reforms that demonstrate their commitment to MCC’s eligibility criteria and poverty reduction through economic growth. Complementing the incentivizing effect of MCC scorecards, threshold programs allow selected countries to demonstrate, and MCC to assess, the opportunity for an impactful and cost-effective partnership. MCC uses a rigorous, evidence-based approach to develop threshold programs jointly with its partner countries, and projects are designed to maximize systemic impact and lay the foundation for larger investments. While countries selected for threshold program assistance are not guaranteed compact eligibility, successful engagement in the development and implementation of a threshold program can yield significant advantages for a potential future compact. If a country does not become compact eligible, a threshold program can help create the conditions for additional investment by the private sector, the government, and other development partners. In FY 2024, MCC partnered to develop or implement threshold programs with The Gambia, Kenya, Kiribati, Mauritania, Solomon Islands, Togo, Philippines, and Tanzania.
Togo
The $35 million Togo threshold program, launched in November 2020, features an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Project that aims to increase competition and private sector participation in the ICT services market, strengthen independent regulation and oversight of the sector, and expand access to high quality, affordable ICT services. The Land Reform to Accelerate Agricultural Productivity Project aims to increase citizens’ access to land by legitimizing customary land rights and creating implementing regulations for the land code. The program is expected to complete by early 2026.
The Gambia
The $25 million Gambia threshold program focuses on supporting the country’s electricity sector, including critical policy and institutional reforms to develop more effective, accountable, and transparent governance for the sector, as well as improve sector operations. The program seeks to empower sector stakeholders, including the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC), the regulator, the National Assembly, private sector, civil society, and the media to identify problems and then design and implement solutions using a facilitated and iterative process. At the operational level, the program aims to improve NAWEC’s capability to meet existing and growing demand, in line with The Gambia’s push to achieve universal access to electricity by 2025 via a mixture of renewable power sources. The program is expected to end by June 2026.
Kenya
The $60 million Kenya Urban Mobility and Growth threshold program formally launched during the Kenya State Visit to Washington, DC, in May 2024. The program seeks to improve urban mobility and generate economic growth in Nairobi and includes projects to support integrated transport planning, non-motorized transport, land use policy, and blended finance for the bus rapid transit system. To support greater inclusivity in the Nairobi transport system, the program will seek to substantially improve the mobility and safety of pedestrians, who represent both the largest and the poorest segment of Nairobi’s commuters, and to create safer and more visible transportation choices for women. The program is expected to end by May 2028.
Kiribati
The $29.1 million Kiribati threshold program was signed in September 2023 at the Pacific Islands Forum Summit in Washington, DC. The grant is the largest direct investment by the United States in this Pacific Island country. Through partnerships with the International Labour Organization and the American Councils for International Education, the program will offer several employment and training opportunities to prepare young people from Kiribati for the economy of the future, including academic camps and scholarships for secondary students in Fiji and the United States. The program is expected to end by late 2027.
Mauritania
Mauritania was selected to develop a threshold program by MCC’s Board in December 2022. The program includes two projects: energy and climate adaptation. MCC management plans to submit the program to its Board for written consent in late 2024. Pending approval and congressional notification, MCC expects signing to occur in early FY 2025. Through both its diplomatic and programmatic engagement, MCC has encouraged the government of Mauritania to take steps to strengthen democratic rights, combat hereditary slavery and trafficking in persons, and encourage social inclusion.
Solomon Islands
In January 2022, MCC signed a $20 million threshold program that seeks to both address land access and investment facilitation issues that have prevented Solomon Islands from realizing its potential in tourism and to help the country generate more reliable and sustainable benefits from its forest resources. The program is pioneering an innovative implementation modality that does not include the establishment of an accountable entity, and instead supports country-led policy and institutional reform through facilitated working groups formed from key stakeholders. The program is expected to end by early 2026.
Philippines
MCC’s Board selected the Philippines to develop a threshold program in December 2023. The Government of the Philippines has chosen to conduct deeper analysis on two constraints to growth: challenges in local governance and unreliable and costly power. The government is developing project concept notes focusing on the root causes of these constraints and how they affect corridors of regional development. MCC management plans to submit the program to its Board in 2025.
Tanzania
MCC’s Board selected Tanzania to develop a threshold program in December 2023. The selection renews MCC’s partnership with the country since having completed a previous compact program in 2013. The Government of Tanzania appointed a national coordinator in February 2024 and is working with MCC to develop a project concept to lower the cost of Tanzania engaging in international trade. MCC management plans to submit the program to MCC’s Board in 2025, should eligibility considerations be met. At the date of publication, MCC was closely monitoring concerns surrounding the credibility of the upcoming November 2024 local elections and related civil liberties and rule of law issues.
For More
- Visit www.mcc.gov for the latest progress on each MCC partner country, including financial data, results and donor coordination efforts.
- Review MCC’s Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Management Report for financial statements and the independent auditor’s report.