This article is part of an occasional series Devex is producing this year to examine the Millennium Challenge Corporation as it marks its 20th year.
On Jan. 23, 2004, the U.S. Congress created the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an aid agency that would help the lowest-income countries clinch large grants if they could turn their economic and social policies around and show good governance. But today, on its 20th anniversary, it is unclear if it’s set for a new period of growth or faces an identity crisis.
For Alice Albright, MCC´s chief executive officer, there’s no doubt. It is past the “startup stage” and ready to expand to additional countries and adapt to global trends over the next several decades. But it’s also running out of places to work and is grappling with how its model can stay relevant within its constraints and actually support countries, or whether it must make significant changes, some development experts have said.