US Millennium Challenge Corp delegation visits Malawi
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) acting vice president for the Department of Compact Operations Kyeh Kim, acting vice president for the Department of Policy and Evaluation Tom Kelly, and Chief Economist Mark Sundberg, are visiting Lilongwe .
The MCC delegation has been holding high level discussions with government of Malawi partners, including Chief Secretary to Government Lloyd Muhara, Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Bright Msaka and Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe.
In addition, the MCC delegation will meet with ESCOM, EGENCO, and MERA executives and attend a site visit to the Nkhoma A Substation.
This visit provides MCC leadership an opportunity to engage the government of Malawi on the current status of Malawi’s MCC Compact and initiate discussions on eligibility requirements for a potential second Compact.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is currently supporting Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) – Malawi’s three energy sector projects totaling US$350.7 million.
The Compact is designed to increase individual and business incomes and reduce poverty by improving the availability, reliability, and quality of the power supply, expanding access to power, reducing the cost of doing business, and revitalizing Malawi’s power sector.
The three projects focus on: improvements to Malawi’s power infrastructure (US$257.1 million), such as rehabilitating Nkula hydropower plant and installing transmission and distribution lines across the country; improvements to the utilities (US$25.7 million) including the unbundling of ESCOM and increasing successful financial and operational performance; and improvements to environmental and natural resource management (US$27.9 million), including weed and sediment management of the Shire River Basin.
In announcing the delegation’s visit, U.S. Ambassador to Malawi Virginia Palmer said, “Implementation of Malawi’s MCC Compact is on track and the delegation’s visit will highlight the strong partnership with both government of Malawi partners and the dynamic, effective MCA team. Continued support for the power sector reform agenda from the government of Malawi is critical to ensure the Compact’s goals are not only achieved but sustainable beyond the Compact’s closure in September 2018.”
Kim started serving as the Acting Vice President of the Department of Compact Operations in early May 2016, and concurrently serves as the Deputy Vice President of the Africa Region. Previous to recently becoming the Acting Vice President of the Department of Policy and Evaluation, Tom Kelly served as the Managing Director of MCC’s Threshold Program. Mark Sundberg started as MCC’s Chief Economist in July 2016, previously serving the World Bank.
MCC is an agency of the United States Government that is helping lead the fight against global poverty.
