How MCC plans to award $287.3 million in contracts in 2026

Established in 2004, the Millennium Challenge Corporation partners with the world’s lowest-income countries to end extreme poverty through economic growth. On Dec. 18, the agency published its latest business forecast for contracts it intends to procure in the coming months. It contains 86 opportunities, with a ceiling value of $287.3 million. This is almost the same level as the $292 million business forecast in the previous fiscal year. However, the number of contracts for F.Y. 2026 is much smaller: just 86 awards compared to 143 contracts in F.Y. 2025. We analyzed the data to see where MCC’s priorities lie. MCC in Trump’s era MCC funds development primarily through compacts, which are five-year grants, usually worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It also provides smaller grants, called threshold programs, to countries not yet eligible for compacts. Based on its Annual Management Report, MCC’s total spending on completed compacts and threshold programs totaled $11.4 billion as of the end of F.Y. 2025. The agency also had $3.8 billion to spend on ongoing programs and an additional $2.3 billion earmarked for approved projects. According to the document, a portion of this budget was eventually terminated following a series of government-wide aid reviews initiated by the Trump administration. However, the exact programs and amount have not been disclosed. Devex has reported on the terminated programs, which included two regional compacts, five compacts, and five threshold programs. Amid all the shakedown in the wider U.S. government, MCC appears to have already stabilized. As of December, its board has begun selecting new countries eligible for funding. MCC BF: Overall figures MCC’s latest forecast for F.Y. 2026 included 86 opportunities, worth a maximum value of $287.3 million. Of this, 76 contracts, worth up to $256 million, are in the planning stage, while 10 contracts, worth up to $31.3 million, have already been approved. By size, 42 opportunities are expected to be worth between $350,000 and $1 million. Another 37 contracts could be worth between $1 million and $5 million. Six contracts are between $5 million and less than $10 million each, while one award has a maximum value of $349,999. Sixteen opportunities are expected to be awarded in the first quarter, with a cumulative maximum value of $53 million, or an average award size of $3.3 million each. Another 25 contracts, with an average size of $2.5 million, are slated for the second quarter; 38 contracts, averaging $3.7 million, for the third quarter; and the remaining seven contracts, with an average size of $4.6 million, for the fourth quarter. Who’s procuring the contracts? The Department of Compact Operations, which manages overseas missions, remains the top-procuring department within MCC, with 46 anticipated awards, worth up to $127 million — 44.2% of the total budget. The Department of Policy and Evaluation ranked next, with up to $80.3 million for 24 contracts, followed by the Department of Administration and Finance, with up to $74 million for 14 contracts, then the Office of the General Counsel, which intends to award two contracts, worth up to $6 million. Each procuring department also described the services it would need. Based on our analysis, 19 anticipated awards, worth up to $66.3 million, are for monitoring and evaluation. Infrastructure-focused services, such as consulting for transportation projects, ranked next, with 10 awards, worth up to $34 million; energy-related services, primarily for due diligence and technical assistance, with up to $32 million for eight awards; and IT-related work, with up to $31 million for five awards. The rest are intended for other administrative services, consulting, and technical assistance. What are the geographic priorities? Our review of the data shows that more than 60% of the anticipated awards, worth up to $179 million, have no specified target location as they are intended to support MCC’s operations. Among those with specific locations, Indonesia has the biggest budget, worth up to $16 million for four contracts. Benin followed, with up to $11 million for three awards. Then Sierra Leone, Kosovo, and Belize, each with up to $10 million for two awards each. MCC also intends to award up to $11 million for three multicountry activities. Try out Devex Pro Funding today with a free five-day trial, and explore funding opportunities from over 850 sources in addition to our analysis and news content.