Africa: Morocco Added to Eligibility List for Millennium Challenge Account

3 December 2004
allAfrica.com
By Alex Turman

Washington, DC — Morocco is the only country added to the eligibility list for the 2005 Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), U.S. officials said in November. Cape Verde is not eligible for 2005 funding because it has surpassed the per capita requirement for grants. It will remain eligible for 2004 funding, which has not been spent yet.

The U.S. development assistance provided through the Millennium Challenge Account is administered through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). The MCC's board of directors, to which President Bush appoints four members and the CEO, determines which countries receive assistance under the MCA based on governance and economic reform standards set by the MCC.

MCC CEO Paul Applegarth explained some of the achievements, logistics and goals of the the MCC. "While MCC has not yet entered a compact, it has already had an impact. Sometimes it is directly tied to our role as an incentive for policy reform. One [country] recently has introduced a series of anti-corruption measures specifically...for the purposes of improving their prospects with the Millennium Challenge."

Colin Powell, U.S. secretary of state and chairman of the board of the MCC, announced that the sixteen countries eligible for the Millennium Challenge Account in 2005 are Armenia, Benin, Bolivia, Georgia, Ghana, Honduras, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Senegal, Sri Lanka and Vanuatu

The MCC has also established a threshold program for countries that have shown a commitment to meeting eligibility requirements. Threshold countries will be invited to submit proposals for assistance in meeting the MCC's eligibility requirements. Burkina Faso, Guyana, Malawi, Paraguay, Philippines and Zambia were the countries added to the Threshold Program for the 2005 fiscal year.

The MCC has notified Congress about its intention to negotiate Millennium Challenge Account compacts for Honduras, Madagascar, Nicaragua and Georgia.

The initial budget for the MCC was $1 billion. President Bush has set a goal for providing the MCC with $5 billion per year by 2006.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2004 allAfrica.com. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.