WASHINGTON (April 25, 2022) – The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) hosted leaders from around the world to discuss how the United States, through the values-driven, high-standard, transparent, and catalytic infrastructure initiative announced by President Biden at the Carbis Bay G7 Summit last year, will work with partners to meet the tremendous infrastructure needs of low- and middle-income countries around the world.
“Working with our partner countries and the private sector, MCC has shown that a rigorous, values-driven approach to infrastructure investment can deliver meaningful impact for millions of people in low and middle-income countries around the world, including through expanded access to clean energy, improved water and sanitation services, and more resilient irrigation and agriculture infrastructure,” said MCC’s Chief Executive Officer Alice Albright. “Wherever we work, our projects are designed with sustainability, resilience, and people at the forefront, with a focus on making sure that MCC-funded infrastructure tangibly improves public services for communities, reaches poor and marginalized groups, and helps our country partners deliver economic growth for their citizens that is inclusive, sustainable, and resilient to shocks.”
The hour-long virtual panel discussion included members from both the public and private sector, including: Ambassador Constâncio Pinto, National Executive Director, Compact Development Team – Timor-Leste and former Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste to the United States; Malika Laasri, Chief Executive Officer for the Millennium Challenge Account-Morocco; Dye Mawindo, Chief Executive Officer and National Coordinator of the Malawi Millennium Development Trust, Proposed Malawi Compact; and Justin Siberell, the Region President, Europe and the Middle East at Bechtel – the largest construction company in the United States.
A project of focus for the panel was the $460 million Morocco Employability and Land Compact where MCC and the Government of Morocco are partnering with the private sector to help build inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
“MCC is bringing the collaborative [nature] of how to do things and scale up…private sector, bringing investments from the outside, and even helping our industrial companies to export,” said Laasri, a representative of the Government of Morocco. “We had a brief with the Minister of Industry, and he is so happy and so thrilled. The way we [are doing] things with MCC…de-risked the investment for the private sector and the government is very happy.”
MCC has an 18-year track record of delivering high-quality infrastructure projects that are transparent and adhere to high environmental, social, and governance standards. Since 2004, MCC has provided more than $15 billion in grant financing to low and lower-middle income countries across six continents and successfully delivered over 180 projects, which are expected to benefit 215 million people. MCC focuses on physical as well as institutional infrastructure, taking an approach that integrates institutional and policy reform and country ownership with large-scale infrastructure investments to ensure the long-term sustainability and impact of the agency’s investments.
“American private sector companies can really bring something to the table as we look to build out the infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries…this is something I think I can safely and confidently say on behalf of the U.S. private sector in general, and we have the opportunity to contribute as [the Administration’s infrastructure initiative] really gathers steam,” said Siberell.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is an independent, U.S. government development agency working to reduce global poverty through economic growth. Created in 2004, MCC provides time-limited grants that pair investments in infrastructure with policy and institutional reforms to countries that meet rigorous standards for good governance, fighting corruption and respecting democratic rights.