ADDIS ABABA- A delegation from the U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has discussed with Ministry of Finance on the development of an MCC threshold program in Ethiopia which focuses on poverty reduction through promoting economic growth.
The threshold program of MCC is smaller grants focused on policy and institutional reforms in selected countries that come close to passing MCC’s eligibility criteria. Taking the current Ethiopian Government reforms, MCC Board selected Ethiopia to develop a threshold in December 2018.
During the discussion held yesterday Minister of Finance, Ahmed Shide said that the American MCC program selected Ethiopia for the first time to recognize and support its recent multidimensional reforms. Ahmed said that the current political, economic reforms by Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed and the series of actions taken regarding human rights protection, government’s attention to the private sector and civic society’s activities attracts the program.
According to Ahmed the MCC has formed partnership with strong and strategic allies of USA and basically their precondition to invest in a partner country is commitment of the governments to tackle poverty and investing for their citizens. Ahmed added that the Compact Phase of the program, a grant for selected countries that meet MCC’s eligibility criteria, preparation works will go side by side with the threshold.
MCC Vice President and Administration & Finance Head, Cynthia Huger on her part said that Ethiopian government is currently on serious reforms. Hence, it is the right time to make MCC new collaboration with Ethiopian government to realize the reform. She stated that “the new collaboration will strengthen the relation between Ethiopia and United States on their shared goal of reducing poverty through economic growth.”
U.S Ambassador to Ethiopia Michael Rynor also said that “this opportunity would not be possible without the concrete steps the Ethiopian Government has already taken toward democratic and economic reforms.” The MCC program is an innovative US foreign aid agency created by the U.S Congress in 2004 with the mission of reducing poverty with economic growth.
The program focuses on supplying electricity, providing clean drinking water, building roads and other selective sectors, it was learnt.
The Ethiopian Herald, March 2/2019
BY DARGIE KAHSAY
