Inside MCC’s $434 million pipeline for 2024
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is the leading U.S. agency working with the world's lowest-income countries toward poverty reduction through investing in economic growth.
By Miguel Antonio Tamonan // 04 December 2023On Nov. 9, the Millennium Challenge Corporation released its business forecast for the fiscal year 2024. Similar to the U.S. Agency for International Development’s, MCC’s pipeline provides early information to potential bidders on what it is planning to prioritize in the coming months. All the information is provisional, which means that MCC can update it without prior notice. The pipeline only includes contracts worth over $250,000. We broke down the contracts in the pipeline to see where MCC’s priorities lie. How does MCC partner with LMICs? Established in 2004, MCC partners with the world’s poorest countries to end poverty by investing in activities that promote economic growth. The list of its partner countries is decided through a rigorous process that focuses on democratic values and the prioritization of human development. MCC engages with the countries through three grant types: • Compacts, which are large, five-year agreements that fund activities on poverty eradication and economic growth — which again are MCC’s two primary focus areas. • Regional compacts, which promote cross-border integration. • Threshold programs, which provide an avenue for candidate countries to show their ability to comply with MCC’s requirements. Threshold programs serve as a tool to assist countries to eventually become eligible for compacts. Currently, MCC has programs in over 50 countries across the world. While MCC country programs mostly award grants, it has a significant number of contracts to support its processes. Who’s procuring the contracts? The Department of Compact Operations — which manages MCC’s overseas missions — has the biggest forecasted budget for contracts, worth $199 million. The Department of Administration and Finance ranked next, with $129 million. The department works in a range of responsibilities, including the management of human resources, grants and contracts, and technology infrastructures. Then the Department of Policy and Evaluation, which plans to spend up to $102 million. Among its tasks is managing MCC’s evaluation process for the compact and threshold programs. Finally, around $2 million each came from the Office of General Counsel and the Department of Congressional and Public Affairs. What are MCC’s geographic and sectoral priorities? Unlike the USAID BF, the MCC BF only provides basic information on the forecasted opportunities. This includes the title, responsible department, estimated budget range, and the anticipated solicitation date. It does not specify where the opportunities are going to be implemented, or what the thematic sectors are. In some cases, the recipient countries are mentioned in the project title. Based on our analysis, 118 opportunities, worth $340 million, did not mention the geographical focus of the activities. These are mostly consultancy work and services related to the functions and operations of the departments needing them. Of those where the place of performance was mentioned, we found out that the biggest portion is allocated to Kiribati — with six opportunities, worth $31 million. Other top recipient countries include Togo, with $7 million, and Solomon Islands, Nepal, Lesotho, and Côte d'Ivoire, with $6 million each. By sector, nearly a quarter, worth $106 million, is allocated to consultancies. Among those with a single target sector, $29 million will go to transportation, $26 million to agriculture, $19 million to energy, and $12 million to education. Another $26 million is budgeted for cross-cutting activities. The rest will go to other sectors, including health and environment. What are the largest contracts in the pipeline? The budget for each of the forecasted contracts ranges from $1 million to more than $20 million. Among the biggest are: • Over $20 million for technical advisory consultancy for compact grant development in Africa. • Over $20 million to provide support to the Department of Administration and Finance on the management of contracts and grants management. • Up to $20 million for an unspecified service related to MCC’s management information system portal. • Up to $10 million under the Kiribati Threshold Program. • Up to $10 million each for four services related to MCC’s operations, including training for human resources and technology-related procurements. In brief: MCC PCBF Just a week before the publication of its business forecast, MCC also shared another pipeline document — the Partner Country Business Forecast. While the main business forecast is administered by MCC, PCBF is the responsibility of the partner countries themselves. Overall, the forecast included 78 planned opportunities. Although the exact budget for each has not been disclosed, they are typically worth over $200,000. Lesotho has the most number of planned contracts, with 12 opportunities. Nepal ranked next, with 11 opportunities, Mozambique and Malawi, with nine each, and Senegal with seven. Around 18 forecasted awards are for the transport sector, 16 opportunities for energy, and 10 opportunities for public sector management and governance. 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.
On Nov. 9, the Millennium Challenge Corporation released its business forecast for the fiscal year 2024.
Similar to the U.S. Agency for International Development’s, MCC’s pipeline provides early information to potential bidders on what it is planning to prioritize in the coming months.
All the information is provisional, which means that MCC can update it without prior notice.
This story is forDevex Promembers
Unlock this story now with a 15-day free trial of Devex Pro.
With a Devex Pro subscription you'll get access to deeper analysis and exclusive insights from our reporters and analysts.
Start my free trialRequest a group subscription Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).
Miguel Tamonan is a Senior Development Analyst at Devex, where he analyzes data from public and private donors to produce content and special reports for Pro and Pro Funding readers. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a Major in International Relations from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.