To cap its 20th-year celebration, it appears the Millennium Challenge Corporation is poised to receive one of its birthday wishes: A broader pool of countries to partner with.
The United States Congress is on the verge of approving a bill that would expand the range of countries eligible to receive MCC’s large grants, which aim to promote economic growth in nations with strong records of good governance. On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which includes the Millennium Challenge Corporation Candidate Country Reform Act. The Senate is likely to vote on the bill this week, with the law likely to be enacted by year’s end.
MCC currently works with low-income or lower-middle-income countries. However, the proposed legislation would extend eligibility to all countries that qualify for lending from the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which supports middle-income nations.
About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
