U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO Cheers Zambia Compact Development Progress

U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO Cheers Zambia Compact Development Progress

U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Alice Albright, visited Zambia with President Hakainde Hichilema at State House, Independence Avenue, Lusaka

LUSAKA, Zambia (Friday May 31, 2024) –

The U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Alice Albright, visited Zambia this week to express her appreciation for President Hakainde Hichilema and the Government of Zambia’s high-level and sustained support to jointly develop a new compact program between MCC and the Government of Zambia.

“Working together in partnership, we can foster opportunity and growth for the Zambian people,” said CEO Albright.

CEO Albright met with Zambian farmers and businesspeople to better understand the barriers to increased agricultural production and processing in Zambia.

They discussed the proposed compact’s aim to lower the cost of doing business and expanding these critical businesses.

“MCC is looking at ways to support Zambia’s plans to make it easier for farmers and agriculture processors to sell their products and to grow their businesses, which is critical to catalyzing economic growth for the people,” CEO Albright said. “I was grateful to speak with local people about the ways the proposed MCC compact investments can help the country achieve its food security goals.”

During the visit, CEO Albright also lauded the government’s efforts to sustain the investments made during the prior MCC compact from 2012-2018, which targeted Lusaka’s water, sanitation and drainage infrastructure and policies.

MCC previously invested more than $377 million (10.2 billion Kwacha), which increased Lusaka residents’ access to water, sanitation, and drainage services.

That previous compact – expected to benefit 1.2 million people – rehabilitated a water treatment plant along the Kafue River, which provides 40 percent of Lusaka’s clean water.

The project built nearly 150 miles of water and sewage pipelines and improved key sewage treatment ponds, allowing the facility to support an estimated 156,000 residents – roughly eight times more than its previous capacity.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation is an independent U.S. government development agency working to reduce global poverty through economic growth.

Created in 2004, MCC provides time-limited grants that pair investments in infrastructure with policy and institutional reforms to countries that meet rigorous standards for good governance.

EMBASSY OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
LUSAKA, ZAMBIA
NR/1350/5/31/2024
CONTACT: Phil Dimon
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Public Affairs Officer
May 31, 2024
Email: DimonPM@state.gov

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