MCC Signs $2.8 Million Compact with Liberia

Photo: MCC Twitter Account
Office of the Spokesperson
Department of State
Washington, DC
February 24, 2015

Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Heather Higginbottom and Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) CEO Dana J. Hyde will welcome Liberian Finance Minister Amara Konneh in the Treaty Room of the U.S. Department of State for an MCC compact development signing ceremony marking MCC’s engagement with Liberia post-Ebola at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, February 25, 2015.

The ceremony will formalize $2.8 million in compact development funds for Liberia, as it begins its post-Ebola recovery, helping it achieve lasting economic growth. Liberia was re-selected to continue compact development at MCC’s most recent board meeting, chaired by Secretary of State John Kerry, on December 10, 2014.

Remarks by MCC CEO Dana J. Hyde at the Compact Development Signing Ceremony with Liberia

Thank you all for being here.

We are delighted to be here to celebrate and open a new chapter in the longstanding partnership that we have heard so much about between the United States and Liberia.

At the Millennium Challenge Corporation, we know and have known that Liberia is an emerging champion for development and trade and investment in West Africa, and the agreement that we are about to sign creates the funding that we can help take that to a new level.

We can help unlock the economic potential that exists in Liberia and we are delighted to do so.

Since 2010, when MCC first signed a threshold program with Liberia, we have had a front row seat to the changes and the commitment that the government and the people of Liberia have made: promoting democracy, expanding economic opportunity and achieving sustainable development objectives.

So, as we sign these resources, these resources will allow us to undertake the diligence and preparatory efforts that are necessary to look at what are those barriers to economic growth, how do we unlock those barriers, and how do we seek to achieve poverty reduction.

Our teams are eager to get started. Under the leadership of the Ambassador we have already had some good ground work over the last four or five weeks and throughout our partnership Liberia’s minister of Finance and Development Planning has played an instrumental role.

So, we are fortunate to benefit from his leadership and his insights as we look to the future of our partnership of what we can create together.

It is therefore my pleasure to introduce Liberia’s Minister of Finance. Please welcome Minister Konneh.