Zambia among countries to undertake Millennium Challenge grant

By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
ZAMBIA and Belize have been selected as newly eligible to develop Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) compacts, the agency’s five-year grant programme.
The selection was made recently by the MCC’s Board of Directors at its quarterly meeting on Wednesday this week.
As part of its annual discussion on country selection, MCC’s Board also reviewed the policy performance of eligible and previously selected countries and received an update on the status of the US$500 million MCC-Nepal Compact.
Zambia completed a prior compact with MCC in 2018 and demonstrates strong performance on MCC’s scorecard.
A subsequent compact will support the Government of Zambia’s efforts to address the country’s pressing development challenges and pursue critical economic and democratic governance reforms following its recent democratic transition.
“I am excited to announce MCC’s new partnerships with Belize and Zambia,” said MCC’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mahmoud Bah.
Mr Bah said these governments [Zambia and Beliz) had demonstrated a clear commitment to democratic governance, investing in people, and pursuing economic freedom.
“We look forward to working together to develop programmes that reduce poverty and enable sustainable and inclusive economic growth,” he said.
MCC regularly reviews its partner countries’ policy performance throughout the development and implementation of a compact or threshold program.
Following this year’s review, MCC’s Board of Directors discontinued MCC’s development of a proposed threshold program with Ethiopia while welcoming the opportunity to renew engagement with Ethiopia in the future if conditions permit.
MCC’s Board of Directors also reselected Indonesia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Timor-Leste for compact development; and Kenya and Kiribati for threshold program development.
The Board reaffirmed its support for continuing compact development in Kosovo. In addition, the Board reselected Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, and Benin as eligible for concurrent compact programs for regional integration.
Selecting Belize for a compact allows MCC to partner with a country that has demonstrated a clear commitment to democratic governance, but that is facing rising poverty rates and significant challenges to economic growth.
With this new partnership, MCC will support the Government of Belize’s efforts to build economic resilience and address its most binding constraints to growth.