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REMARKS BY
MCC CEO AMBASSADOR JOHN DANILOVICH
Ambassador
Andy Young Lecture Series on Africa
The Africa
Society of the National Summit on Africa
“MCC and
Africa: A Partnership for Progress”
Tuesday,
January 29, 2008
Embassy of
Ghana
Washington,
DC
6:30-9:00 pm
Thank you for
that kind introduction, Mr. Ambassador
Bawuah-Edusei, and thank you for graciously
opening the doors of the Ghanaian embassy to
host us here this evening.
I have had the
great privilege of visiting Ghana, and I
have enjoyed and benefited greatly from my
many, fruitful conversations with President
Kufuor, and also with representatives of his
government and members of civil society.
The Millennium
Challenge Corporation is extremely proud of
our partnership with Ghana. The $547 million
Ghana-MCC compact reflects the strong will
of the Ghanaian people to drive their growth
and development to create a better future
for themselves and generations to come.
I am honored to
participate in the Ambassador Andy Young
Lecture Series on Africa, and would like to
also extend my gratitude to Bernadette
Paolo, President and CEO of The Africa
Society of the National Summit on Africa,
for inviting me to speak.
Bernadette, many
thanks to you and your team for organizing
this event. Both the Africa Society and the
Millennium Challenge Corporation contribute
to the common goal of deepening U.S.-Africa
relations through strong partnerships, and I
am very happy to be here.
This is an
exciting time for the Millennium Challenge
Corporation! Tonight, I find myself among
friends to discuss the Millennium Challenge
Corporation’s work in Africa. Tomorrow
morning, we are expecting to meet over 400
supporters of the Millennium Challenge
Corporation on Capitol Hill to celebrate our
fourth anniversary, and to discuss the
enormous progress we have made in realizing
our mission of reducing poverty through
economic growth in partner countries in
Africa and elsewhere around the world. If
you can join us tomorrow morning on the
Hill, please do. We will be in the Russell
Senate Caucus Room beginning at 8:30 a.m.
Distinguished
ambassadors, ladies and gentlemen, let there
be no mistake about it: The Millennium
Challenge Corporation is an essential
component of American engagement with Africa
to promote economic growth on the continent
and to reduce poverty among its people.
Let me share
with you how MCC does this by taking a few
moments to talk about our model for
development assistance, our role in Africa
and the strides MCC programs are making
throughout the continent, and our vision for
growing African economies and integrating
them into the global economy.
The MCC model
for development assistance first became a
reality in Africa. It is a model that awards
development grants—not loans—in partnership
with countries willing to undertake
political, economic, and social policy
reforms to rule justly, fight corruption,
invest in the health and education of their
people, and promote economic freedom;
willing to build their capacity to lead
their sustainable development; and willing
to deliver results where they matter most—in
the lives of the poor.
As chair of
MCC’s board, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice refers to MCC as “one of our most
important tools in changing the conversation
about how development takes place, that
there is responsibility on behalf of donor
countries but there is also responsibility
on behalf of those who would receive our
aid.”
By adopting this
new way of looking at development,
Madagascar signed the first MCC compact in
2005. Africa led the way, and since then,
MCC has partnered with 16 of the world’s
poorest countries through antipoverty
compacts, totaling over $5.5 billion.
Threshold programs have been approved for
another 18 countries worldwide, totaling
$400 million, to help them overcome specific
policy weaknesses and cross the “threshold”
to compact eligibility.
Africa, as a
whole, remains the largest recipient of
MCC’s development assistance, both in the
number of agreements and in the amount of
assistance provided.
Of MCC’s
16 compacts, 9 are with African countries,
totaling about $3.8 billion. Our
partnerships span the continent, from
Morocco and Cape Verde to Benin, Ghana, and
Mali to Lesotho, Mozambique, Madagascar, and
Tanzania. And, we anticipate up to two more
compacts in Africa by the end of this
summer—with Namibia and Burkina Faso.
This means that
nearly 70 percent—70 percent!—of what MCC
has awarded so far in compacts benefits the
people of Africa.
In addition, of
MCC’s 18 threshold programs, 7 are in
Africa, providing another $100 million to
the continent, largely to fight corruption
and improve governance.
MCC’s model for
development assistance is no longer one of
donor and recipient countries interacting,
but, rather, co-partners in development
working shoulder to shoulder toward
results. MCC provides the funding and
technical support, but our partners develop
their own proposals, implement their own
programs, and benefit from leading their own
development efforts that we fund.
MCC supports
countries in creating their solutions to
their challenges. Ghana’s public sector
reform minister confirmed this when he said,
“Unlike other traditional development
assistance programs where the donor proposes
how funds are used, countries selected under
the Millennium Challenge Account propose
programs to receive funding. Thus, the MCA
is designed to allow developing countries to
take ownership and responsibility for funds
provided by the Millennium Challenge
Corporation.”
The MCC model is
working: working around the world and
working in Africa. And, we see similarities
among African partner countries interested
in MCC’s way of approaching development.
These countries are embracing ongoing
reforms to retain, maximize, and leverage
MCC funding; building a culture of
transparency by fighting corruption;
engaging all segments of their
societies—including women—in defining
development priorities and implementing
action toward them; taking steps to build
their capacity to fight poverty; and working
to promote healthy business climates so that
trade and private enterprise can serve as
the engines of long-term economic growth.
MCC’s
investments in Africa’s development are
beginning to bear fruit. While many news
reporters seem fixated on all that is not
working in Africa, I see something much
different. Like you, I see opportunity and
possibility, reforms and growth. MCC
investments reflect this different story—one
of country-led solutions being implemented,
progress being realized, and the lives of
the poor improving.
In many of your
countries—working in support of and in
partnership with your people—MCC is building
roads; investing in ports, airports, and
energy grids; expanding social and financial
services, including health, education,
access to credit, land tenure, and business
development initiatives; improving access to
water and sanitation services; and
increasing farmer incomes through better
agriculture techniques and programs.
In Madagascar,
for instance, I handed out land titles, many
to women. I could feel the tremendous pride
in each of these individuals, with their
newfound sense of economic security,
dignity, and empowerment. With clear title
to their land, the poor are able to use
their property as collateral for credit to
expand their farming operations.
I visited
cooperatives where Malagasy farmers are
learning new techniques and accessing new
markets to make a successful transition to
higher profit/ greater income crops like
geraniums, which are being marketed and sold
to produce high-value oil for use in soaps
and perfumes.
I’ve toured
infrastructure projects in Benin, which are
increasing market access. MCC investments in
rehabilitating the port of Cotonou will
lower operational costs and increase
merchandise traffic.
I’ve attended
classes in one of 132 “girl-friendly”
schools that MCC funding is making possible
in Burkina Faso. As I sat next to these
third graders, I saw firsthand what our
partnership is achieving in Burkina Faso,
and the schools are a joy to behold.
MCC’s commitment
to Africa’s development is evident in
Lesotho, where the compact supports efforts
to counter the spread of HIV/AIDS and to
improve the reliability of water supply and
sanitation for industrial and residential
uses.
It is evident in
Cape Verde, where MCC funds are being used
to improve roads and small bridges that will
strengthen transportation links, making it
easier to commute to work or move goods to
local and export markets; in Mali, where
Malians are improving irrigation systems in
the Niger River Delta and modernizing the
Bamako Airport that will boost agricultural
productivity and expand access to markets
and trade; in Mozambique, where Mozambicans
are improving access to water and sanitation
in eight cities and towns and 600 rural
villages. MCC investments are also
rehabilitating Mozambique’s national
transportation network and helping coconut
farmers prevent the collapse of their
industry.
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