Monrovia — The news of Liberia passing the Millennium Challenge Corporation scorecard for the first since 2018 was highly celebrated, however, Liberia failed to get the much-needed assistance that comes with passing the scorecard.
Passing the MCC scorecard comes with hefty assistance to the country meeting all the criteria prepared by the Board in accordance with the Act establishing the MCC.
In this Fiscal Year, the MCC scored Liberia high in Control of Corruption and Democratic Rights. Under Economic Freedom, Liberia scored 38 percent under Fiscal Year, with a score of 4.1, while recording 7.0 under Inflation.
Under Regulatory Quality, Liberia secured a 38 percent mark, while at the same time obtaining 38 percent in Trade Policy, with a score of 60.8.
Liberia passed according to the MCC scorecard but is not among the countries selected for assistance.
"The Board selected the following eligible countries for such assistance for FY 2023: Senegal, The Gambia, and Togo. The Board also selected the following previously selected countries for compact assistance for FY 2023: Côte d'Ivoire, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Zambia," the MCC disclosed.
The Act establishing the MCC authorizes the provision of assistance under section 605 of the Act (22 U.S.C. 7704) to countries that enter into compacts with the United States to support policies and programs that advance the progress of such countries in achieving lasting poverty reduction through economic growth and are in furtherance of the Act.
The Act requires the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to determine the countries that will be eligible to receive assistance for the fiscal year, based on their demonstrated commitment to just and democratic governance, economic freedom, and investment in their people, as well as on the opportunity to reduce poverty through economic growth in the country. The Act also requires the submission of reports to appropriate congressional committees and the publication of notices in the Federal Register that identifies.
For FY 2023, candidate countries for assistance were, among other things, selected based on their per-capita income levels and their eligibility to receive assistance under U.S. law.
The Board, according to MCC, relied to the fullest extent possible, upon transparent and independent indicators to assess countries' policy performance and demonstrated commitment in these three broad policy areas. The Board compared countries' performance on the indicators relative to their income-level peers, evaluating them in comparison to either the group of countries with a GNI per capita equal to or less than $2,045, or the group with a GNI per capita between $2,046 and $4,255.
In 2020, 50 percent of Liberia's loss of human capital was due to poor education, an increase of 9 percentage points, the World Bank said in the report, Liberia Economic Update with the theme: "Investing in Human Capital for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth."
The country's human capital gap, according to the report, was mainly driven by poor education (contributing 50 percent), poor health (12 percent), and survival (7 percent).
The underlying factors contributing to the country's low human capital outcomes include weak institutions, ineffective service delivery, demographic pressures, and low and inefficient social spending, resulting in unresponsive or suboptimal service delivery, the Bank said.
The Index considers five variables that could be grouped into three components -- survival, school, and health -- that are likely to affect the earnings of the future generation of workers.
The Board also considered whether any adjustments should be made for data gaps, data lags, or recent events since the indicators were published, as well as strengths or weaknesses in particular indicators. Where appropriate, the Board took into account additional quantitative and qualitative information, such as evidence of a country's commitment to fighting corruption, investments in human development outcomes, or poverty rates.
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The Board sees the selection decision as an annual opportunity to determine where MCC funds can be most effectively used to support poverty reduction through economic growth in relatively well-governed, poor countries. The Board carefully considers the appropriate nature of each country's partnership--on a case-by-case basis--based on factors related to poverty reduction through economic growth, the sustainability of MCC's investments, and the country's ability to attract and leverage public and private resources in support of development.
It can be recalled that on observation of International Corruption Day this year, U. S. Ambassador to Liberia, Michael McCarthy in an open letter called for full funding of integrity institutions, publishing of public officials who fail to comply with asset declarations, making information on all legislative votes and actions easily accessible to the public, and reducing funding for government agencies that do not comply with annual financial reporting requirements, etc.
