Visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said her country’s US$540 million Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) for Senegal is one of the largest in the world.
Speaking Wednesday on the first day of her visit to Senegal, which is her first stop on a six-nation African trip, she said the Compact was helping Senegal improve roads, build bridges, irrigate some 90,000 acres of farm fields and make it easier for farmers to get their products to market.
”In addition to that, this year, the United States Agency for International Development is investing US$19 million to build schools and train teachers, US$17 million to strengthen the food supply, US$55 million to improve public health,” Secretary Clinton said.
Created by the US Congress in 2004, MCC is an innovative and independent U.S. foreign aid agency that is helping lead the fight against global poverty. It provides well-performing countries with large-scale grants to fund country-led solutions for reducing poverty through sustainable economic growth.
Only countries that are committed to good governance, economic freedom and investments in their citizens are eligible for MCC partnerships, under which five-year grants are made to such countries.
