MCC pursued cost-effective and efficient opportunities to leverage our own comparative advantages and those of others throughout the donor community. This included coordinating our assistance with the efforts of other U.S. Government agencies to maximize impact, including greater trade competiveness.
- AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act): MCC has provided over $3 billion to support trade, principally by investing in roads, ports and airports and by improving the productivity of export-oriented industries, like agriculture, that benefit small and medium enterprises. During fiscal year 2014, we committed to intensifying our analysis of the trade competitiveness of MCC partner countries that benefit from AGOA, including the competitiveness of AGOA product lines. We are also exploring opportunities for regional integration to facilitate trade and address trade barriers through policy and institutional reform.
- PEPFAR (U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief): In fiscal year 2014, MCC signed a memorandum of agreement with the State Department’s Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, which administers PEPFAR. In this three-year partnership, MCC will share our experiences in managing country-owned programs with rigorous monitoring and evaluation focused on improving the effectiveness and sustainability of PEPFAR projects.
- Power Africa: To support Power Africa—President Obama’s initiative to increase access to power in sub-Saharan Africa through the combined efforts and expertise of 12 federal agencies—MCC is working with Ghana, Liberia and Tanzania, three of the initiative’s six focus countries. Our efforts aim to increase access to electricity, strengthen the reliability of power systems and improve the sustainability of the energy sector by fostering a policy environment conducive for private investment. We have already invested nearly $1 billion in Africa’s power sector, including through the Ghana Power Compact. We are working with Liberia and Tanzania to develop energy projects, and will continue to increase the availability, affordability and reliability of electricity for our African partner countries to overcome constraints to economic growth and private investment.
- Peace Corps: During fiscal year 2014, MCC and Peace Corps made progress toward finalizing a memorandum of agreement to renew and amplify their existing partnership. Through this latest agreement, Peace Corps volunteers can be assigned to work on MCC activities and programs in countries of mutual interest, and Peace Corps’ engagement throughout the MCC compact process will also increase. Since 2010, over 30 Peace Corps volunteers have been posted to MCC-funded projects in 14 countries, working in agriculture, education, environment, health, public outreach, and community economic development.
- Typhoon relief in the Philippines: With over half of compact funding dedicated to areas affected by Typhoon Haiyan, particularly on the islands of Leyte and Samar, MCC and MCA-Philippines, together with implementing entities and related contractors, collaborated with the U.S Embassy, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the broader donor community to assist with relief operations after the November 2013 storm. Together, we cleared roads and debris to transport relief materials. We assessed the storm’s impact on MCC-funded projects and worked effectively to minimize negative consequences to the compact’s timeline and outcomes. We coordinated compact activities as part of overall relief and reconstruction efforts, furthering ties between the United States and the Philippines.
In partner countries, strong donor coordination that maximizes shared experiences and expertise, including with the private sector, allowed MCC to deliver growth opportunities for the poor.
- In Moldova, MCC and the U.S. Agency for International Development partnered through the compact-funded Growing High-Value Agriculture Sales Project to provide farmers with market development support, technical assistance and training to increase their incomes. During fiscal year 2014, this coordination trained 4,244 farmers and facilitated $13.88 million in increased sales of high-value fruits and vegetables.
- MCA-Namibia furthered its work with My Digital Bridge Foundation, a Microsoft partner, to use unused TV band spectrum, known as “TV white spaces,” to deliver fast, reliable and affordable broadband access to 23 rural schools and 10 local administrative offices. This broadband access allows rural schools to link up to the country’s Education Management Information System, extending possibilities for e-learning, distance teaching, research peering, and electronic collaboration among connected facilities. Though the compact closed, Namibia’s Ministry of Education has budgeted connecting up to 200 additional schools in fiscal year 2015.
- In coordination with MCC and MCA-Senegal, the U.S. Department of Agriculture engaged Shelter for Life, a nongovernmental organization, for an $8 million, three-year monetization project in which U.S.-grown commodities are sold to finance the rehabilitation of the rural road network. The project will connect approximately 80 miles of feeder roads along the transport corridor in Casamance, where MCC is rehabilitating 156 miles of primary road. The rehabilitation of the first seven-mile segment of the rural road network was inaugurated in August 2014.