Washington, D.C.—Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Deputy Chief Executive Officer Nancy Lee and Minister Delegate of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Morocco Mbarka Bouaida today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the third annual U.S.-Morocco Strategic Dialogue. Morocco and MCC completed a five year compact in 2013 that helped build important Moroccan experience in tackling development challenges that are confronted throughout the region. The agreement, signed at the U.S. Department of State, will facilitate sharing the lessons of Morocco’s development experience with other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, and serve as an important catalyst for South-South cooperation.
“This MOU demonstrates the value we place on Morocco’s experience and our desire to facilitate sharing the benefits of that experience with other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our new partnership advances MCC’s interest in regional cooperation which will be an important driver of growth. The agreement will allow us to have a broader systemic impact that sustains and expands the value of our compacts beyond the compact projects themselves,” Lee said.
This MOU deepens MCC’s relationship with Morocco, which was initially built through a five-year compact that concluded in September 2013. That compact focused on increasing agricultural productivity and improving livelihoods in the handicrafts sector. Compacts are large, five-year grants for countries that pass MCC’s eligibility criteria.
Due to Morocco’s strong performance on the first compact and willingness and ability to push through tough policy reforms, MCC’s board approved Morocco to develop a new compact. Projects under the new agreement are expected to focus on stimulating investment and growth by promoting vocational and secondary education that makes youth more employable and improving land policy and productivity.
The full text of the MOU can be viewed on MCC’s website (.pdf).
Learn more about MCC’s first compact with Morocco.