Source: U.S. Embassy in Malawi |

Millennium Challenge Corporation Releases 2018 Scorecards

MCC and the Government of Malawi signed a $350.7 million compact in 2011 to revitalize the country’s power sector. This compact will end in September 2018

LILONGWE, Malawi, November 6, 2017/APO Group/ --

On November 2, the U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) released its 2018 scorecards. Malawi continued to pass MCC’s scorecard by meeting the requirement of passing at least half of the 20 indicators overall, including the hard hurdles of Control of Corruption and Democratic Rights.

MCC scorecards are comprised of 20 indicators measuring policy performance in the areas of economic freedom, investing in people, and ruling justly, and are produced for all low and lower-middle income countries. The scorecards, including the Malawi scorecard, are available online at https://www.MCC.gov/who-we-fund/scorecards; the scorecards use indicators developed by independent, third-party sources, and provide an objective basis for comparison of the policy performance of all candidate countries.

MCC’s Board of Directors uses scorecard performance as one consideration in its decision-making when selecting country partners at its annual country selection meeting each December.

MCC and the Government of Malawi signed a $350.7 million compact in 2011 to revitalize the country’s power sector. This compact will end in September 2018.

The MCC compact, implemented by the Government of Malawi via the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), is designed to increase the capacity and stability of Malawi’s national electricity grid, bolster the efficiency and sustainability of hydropower generation, and prepare for future expansion by strengthening power sector institutions, regulation, and governance. Through collaborative implementation with project partners (the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi [ESCOM], the Electricity Generation Company [EGENCO], the Ministry of Natural Resource, Energy and Mining, and the Malawian Regulatory Energy Authority [MERA]) the compact aims to reduce poverty by modernizing Malawi’s power sector and improving the availability, reliability, and quality of the power supply.

While Malawi’s MCC compact remains largely on track to complete all major works prior to compact completion in September 2018, the sustainability of MCC investments will require the continued commitment of the Government of Malawi and project partners to achieve power sector reform goals, including an electricity tariff and policy environment that allows the power institutions to cover the cost of producing electricity, expand and maintain the electricity grid, and encourages private sector investment in power generation.

The publication of MCC scorecards underscores the agency’s commitment to transparency, which is integral to the MCC model and a key component of enhancing U.S. foreign assistance effectiveness and ensuring accountability for U.S. taxpayer resources.

For more information on MCC’s activities in Malawi, please see: https://www.MCC.gov/where-we-work/program/malawi-compact.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of U.S. Embassy in Malawi.