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US Foreign Aid - Millennium Challenge Corporation -- {USAGM}

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  • US Foreign Aid - Millennium Challenge Corporation -- {USAGM}
  • February 17, 2023
  • Content Type Package
  • Language English
  • Transcript/Script US Foreign Aid - Millennium Challenge Corporation (TV) HEADLINE: US Foreign Aid Agency Continues to Invest in Africa TEASER: Millennium Challenge Corporation preps to fund projects in Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Togo, Mauritania and Gambia PUBLISHED AT: 02/16/2023 at 8:02 pm BYLINE: Mariama Diallo  CONTRIBUTOR:                           DATELINE: Washington  VIDEOGRAPHER: Philip Datcher & feeds PRODUCER:    SCRIPT EDITORS: Bowman, Jepsen PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB _X_ TV _X_ RADIO __ TRT: 3:42 VID APPROVED BY: mia TYPE: EDITOR NOTES:)) ((INTRO)) [[A unique U.S. foreign aid agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, recently crafted a new type of grant to promote cross-border economic integration and trade between two African nations. The first so-called regional compact signed with Niger and Benin will invest hundreds of millions of dollars for transportation projects. Other grants are also in the works, as we hear from VOA Senior Correspondent Mariama Diallo.]] ((NARRATOR)) ((moving Africa map showing Benin/Cotonou & Niger/Niamey)) Branching out from bilateral agreements between the United States and individual nations, the regional compact in the amount of $504 million will focus on reducing transportation costs between the Port of Cotonou in Benin and Niger’s capital city of Niamey. But there’s more, says Mahmoud Bah, Deputy CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the U.S. agency that’s been providing foreign assistance around the world for nearly two decades. ((Mahmoud Bah – Millennium Challenge Corporation)) ((1:23)) “It will also try to address some of the root causes of maintaining road assets // In both countries, they’ve committed to improving road maintenance so there will be policy and institutional reforms around road maintenance, contributions, how the fund is flowing and how those funds are allocated to roads that actually need to be maintained.” ((NARRATOR)) ((general traffic or street scenes broll)) Benin and Niger will contribute $15 million to the various projects. The regional compact also aims to eliminate trade bottlenecks between the two nations and cut down on spoilage from delays, Bah says. MCC previously invested a total of $1.1 billion in Benin and Niger. The new projects aim to build on progress made. ((Mahmoud Bah – Millennium Challenge Corporation)) ((4:28)) “We hope that we will connect our previous investment to this new investment. The port of Benin is effectively a model in the region, thanks to the work we jointly did, and this road piece connecting that port to customers, farmers, clients in Niamey along the corridor from Cotonou is the big story here. I truly believe that regional integration is an essential piece of the entire continent’s development.” ((NARRATOR)) ((Courtesy: Millennium Challenge Corporation)) Bah just came back from Mozambique. There, he signed a so-called “aide-memoire,” committing Washington and Maputo to pursue a compact later this year to protect Mozambique’s coastal areas. ((Mahmoud Bah – Millennium Challenge Corporation)) ((18:15)) “Mozambique is one country that is faced with extreme adverse effects of climate … 65% of Mozambicans live on the coastal part of Mozambique. It has 2,300 kilometers of coast, and it’s being pounded every year by heavier and heavier cyclones.” ((NARRATOR)) ((aerial footage of the devastation)) About four years ago, Cyclone Idai killed hundreds in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, and displaced millions in what the United Nations called "one of the worst weather-related catastrophes in the history of Africa.” To receive money from MCC, a country needs to meet the agency’s standards on a range of criteria from good governance to economic freedom. MCC recently terminated Burkina Faso’s grant funding after a military takeover. ((Mahmoud Bah – Millennium Challenge Corporation)) ((10:15)) “When we see a coup d’état in a country, especially the military coup d’état, it calls into question the model and what for us that is, is a red line. We cannot face Congress and say, ‘We need to support this country,’ when in fact we see an attempt or a confiscation of the constitution by a group of military [forces].’” ((NARRATOR)) MCC is working on signing a compact with Sierra Leone this year to help make its energy sector more reliable and electricity cheaper. Other potential beneficiaries in Africa includes Mauritania, Togo and Gambia. Senegal is being tapped to lead the next regional compact. ((MARIAMA DIALLO, VOA NEWS, WASHINGTON))
  • NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
  • Network VOA
  • Location (dateline) Washington  D.C.
  • Embargo Date February 16, 2023 21:05 EST
  • Byline ((MARIAMA DIALLO, VOA NEWS, WASHINGTON))
  • Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English
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