Millennium Challenge Corporation Advances Threshold Partnerships in Tanzania and Kenya
Business
Blyden’s trip to Tanzania created opportunities to connect with Tanzanian officials, solidify partnership commitments and discuss next steps. Tanzania was selected by MCC’s Board of Directors to develop a threshold program in December 2023. The threshold program amount and project sectors will be jointly determined as the partnership progresses.
While in Tanzania, Blyden met with Tanzania’s Minister of Finance, Mwigulu L. Nchemba, Executive Secretary of the Planning Commission Lawrence Mafuru and the newly appointed National Coordinator Hamisi Mwinyimvua, who expressed commitment to a thriving economy and the development of a threshold program for the people of Tanzania. Blyden also met with the media, private sector leaders, and civil society to hear their priorities, and witnessed the sustainable power of MCC partnership, during a visit to dLab.
Established through a 2015 partnership between MCC and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), dLab continues to train hundreds of youth in data literacy, coding, and other digital skills to address local challenges with a data-driven approach. She also received updates about MCC funded infrastructure improvement projects in transportation, energy, and water through the $698.1 million MCC Tanzania Compact, completed in 2013.
During her trip to Kenya, Blyden discussed progress toward the implementation of the Kenya Urban Mobility and Growth Threshold Program with senior government of Kenya officials. Kenya and MCC signed a $60 million grant program in September 2023. The program will tackle challenges that limit mobility in urban areas of Nairobi. The program will address pedestrian transportation needs, advance safer transportation options for women, and support financing for the acquisition of electric buses.
Blyden gained insight into land use challenges and possible solutions during site visits to gridlocked urban neighborhoods and a company that assembles electric buses. The Kenya Urban Mobility and Growth Threshold Program is MCC’s largest and most ambitious threshold program to date.