MCC completes grant negotiations with The Gambia at COP26, celebrates climate commitment

The U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the Government of The Gambia completed formal negotiations for a $25 million Threshold Program on November 2, kicking off MCC’s participation in the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26).

The MCC and The Gambia Threshold Program aims to assist the government in addressing The Gambia’s biggest constraint to economic growth: the unreliable and inadequate supply of electricity. The investment will focus two projects: Power Sector Governance and Power Sector Operations. MCC and the Government of The Gambia are working to schedule a formal signing ceremony prior to the end of COP26.

MCC is also in the final stages of negotiations on a nearly $20 million Threshold Program with the Government of the Solomon Islands. The proposed threshold program with Solomon Islands is designed to support policy and institutional reforms in two areas identified as critical constraints to economic growth: access to land, with focus on the tourism sector, and natural resource management.

MCC’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer Alexia Latortue is representing MCC as part of the U.S.’s COP26 delegation. On Nov. 03, Latortue will join FSD Africa’s panel conversation: Building foundations for sustainable finance in developing countries. Latortue will then travel to Senegal on Nov. 04 to take part in a Build Back Better Worldwide (B3W) listening tour, joining Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh. MCC and the Government of Senegal launched the $550 million MCC–Senegal Power Compact on Sept. 09, 2021 to increase the reliability of electricity, especially in the capital city of Dakar, as well as increasing electricity access in peri-urban and rural areas of the south and central regions – all while supporting a modern and efficient foundation upon which the nation’s electricity system can grow.

Latortue is available to speak with interested media on Nov. 03 regarding The Gambia and Solomon Islands Threshold Programs, MCC’s Climate Commitment to dedicate more than 50% of its program funding to climate-related investments over the next five years, as well as MCC’s position as the leader on climate-smart development and sustainable infrastructure among U.S. government foreign assistance agencies.