Fund the Millennium Challenge Corp.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (MarketWatch) — President Barack Obama has asked Congress for nearly $900 million to fund the Millennium Challenge Corp. Congress should give it — willingly.
The MCC was founded eight years ago with the mission to help the economic development of emerging-market countries. It signs compacts with these nations to fund policy reform, transparency, and accountability.
As is often the case in the developing world, governance issues are huge obstacles to trade and, in turn, prosperity. So far, the MCC has invested $8.9 billion with 24 countries.
The investments are paying off.
Here are just a few of the success stories:
— In Ghana, the MCC signed a five-year compact for $547 million to create 1,200 farmer-based organizations. This will train 66,000 farmers in commercial agriculture and enhance rural credit and banking services as well as construct new roads and facilities. The investments are designed to make Ghanaian agriculture more productive. If you’ve ever had Bird’s Eye chili pepper, you’ve supported what Ghanaian farmers call their “green gold.”
— In eastern Mongolia the MCC is funding over five years a $285 million lottery project to lease pasture land to herders. The compact is expected to benefit 6,000 people and raise household incomes by about $15 million over the next 20 years. The U.S., along with much of the rest of the world, is looking to Mongolia for its natural resources, including minerals that power your cell phone and computer.
— In Mali, the MCC is funding with $460 million over 5 years rice and vegetable production to improve food security. Almost 635,000 people are expected to benefit from the program.
If you read between the lines here, you can see that the MCC is laying the groundwork for the private sector to step in and profit. With increased trade and transparency comes increased opportunity for corporations. Smart U.S. companies will seize these opportunities, and smart investors will understand the benefits associated with MCC’s support.
Symbion Power of Washington, D.C., and Pike Electric of Mount Airy, N.C., know this all too well. They won contracts valued at $47.7 million and $17.9 million respectively, as part of the MCC’s compact with the government of Tanzania to rehabilitate and expand the nation’s power grid.
It is the U.S. government’s job to pave the way for the private sector. And that is what the MCC does at the end of the day. In another example, by supporting programs to clean up Benin’s Port of Cotonou, U.S. companies can embark on more trade with West African countries.
These are all pointed examples of the fact that federal government funds don’t have to all be invested domestically to foster domestic economic growth. Companies based in the U.S. can prosper globally and foster jobs.
Indeed, as the U.S. loses out more and more on the global playing field of competition, such international investments have great potential.
The MCC deserves its fair share so the U.S. can gain its fair share in the emerging markets. The global impact of these investments comes back to us all in the form of food, jobs, more open markets for trade, and doing good and right by others.
The MCC was founded eight years ago with the mission to help the economic development of emerging-market countries. It signs compacts with these nations to fund policy reform, transparency, and accountability.
As is often the case in the developing world, governance issues are huge obstacles to trade and, in turn, prosperity. So far, the MCC has invested $8.9 billion with 24 countries.
The investments are paying off.
Here are just a few of the success stories:
— In Ghana, the MCC signed a five-year compact for $547 million to create 1,200 farmer-based organizations. This will train 66,000 farmers in commercial agriculture and enhance rural credit and banking services as well as construct new roads and facilities. The investments are designed to make Ghanaian agriculture more productive. If you’ve ever had Bird’s Eye chili pepper, you’ve supported what Ghanaian farmers call their “green gold.”
— In eastern Mongolia the MCC is funding over five years a $285 million lottery project to lease pasture land to herders. The compact is expected to benefit 6,000 people and raise household incomes by about $15 million over the next 20 years. The U.S., along with much of the rest of the world, is looking to Mongolia for its natural resources, including minerals that power your cell phone and computer.
— In Mali, the MCC is funding with $460 million over 5 years rice and vegetable production to improve food security. Almost 635,000 people are expected to benefit from the program.
If you read between the lines here, you can see that the MCC is laying the groundwork for the private sector to step in and profit. With increased trade and transparency comes increased opportunity for corporations. Smart U.S. companies will seize these opportunities, and smart investors will understand the benefits associated with MCC’s support.
Symbion Power of Washington, D.C., and Pike Electric of Mount Airy, N.C., know this all too well. They won contracts valued at $47.7 million and $17.9 million respectively, as part of the MCC’s compact with the government of Tanzania to rehabilitate and expand the nation’s power grid.
It is the U.S. government’s job to pave the way for the private sector. And that is what the MCC does at the end of the day. In another example, by supporting programs to clean up Benin’s Port of Cotonou, U.S. companies can embark on more trade with West African countries.
These are all pointed examples of the fact that federal government funds don’t have to all be invested domestically to foster domestic economic growth. Companies based in the U.S. can prosper globally and foster jobs.
Indeed, as the U.S. loses out more and more on the global playing field of competition, such international investments have great potential.
The MCC deserves its fair share so the U.S. can gain its fair share in the emerging markets. The global impact of these investments comes back to us all in the form of food, jobs, more open markets for trade, and doing good and right by others.
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