Advertise on podcast: On Development

On June 13, MCC CEO Alice Albright participated in an event at the Woodrow Wilson Center titled “MCC at 20: Applying the Model to Emerging Challenges Globally.” At the event, Mark Kennedy, Director of the Wilson Center’s Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition, hosted CEO Albright and Wilson Center CEO Ambassador Mark Green in a discussion about what comes next for MCC and how the MCC model can be used to address today’s foreign affairs challenges. Excerpts from that event appear in the Wilson Center podcast, and with their permission MCC is sharing that podcast on our channel.

In the current development landscape, many countries are experiencing a decline in democratic values and practices, with governments limiting civil liberties and curtailing citizen participation in democratic processes. In this episode, we'll explore the challenges and opportunities of supporting democracy, good governance, and economic development in the digital era with Alicia Phillips Mandaville, MCC's Vice President of the Department of Policy and Evaluation and Steve Feldstein, Senior Fellow from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

In this episode, MCC Director of Gender and Social Inclusion, Krista Rigalo and DigiFemmes Program Director, Nadine Zoro discuss how DigiFemmes empowers women entrepreneurs, such as Linda Dempah, with 21st-century skills to future-proof their careers and help their businesses thrive.

Benin, a country in West Africa with a population of more than 12 million, is working to grow its economy and deliver power to its people. MCC is partnering with Benin to reduce poverty and support economic growth through a $391 million compact focused on electric power. The compact is strengthening the national power utility, attracting private sector investment into solar power generation, and funding major investments in the national grid, as well as off-grid power systems. In this latest episode, MCC Resident Country Director for Benin, Chris Broughton, speaks with U.S. Ambassador to Benin, Brian Shukan, about the ways MCC is transforming the country’s power sector and what this means for the U.S.-Benin relationship.

In this episode, MCC Deputy CEO Mahmoud Bah and Dana Banks, Senior Advisor to the President and Special Advisor for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, discuss the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit and how it will reinforce the U.S.-Africa commitment to democracy and foster new economic engagement on the continent.

In this podcast episode, Associate Director of Selection and Eligibility Naureen Haque and Senior Development Policy Officer of Selection, Eligibility, and Policy Performance Terry Fletcher discuss MCC's new scorecard indicator and how it measures disability rights and lessons learned from countries working to improve their scorecard performance.

Structural exclusion of disadvantaged groups is a problem in all countries, and MCC knows that widespread exclusion or inequality may constrain economic growth. In this episode, Aysha House, Vice President of the Department of Congressional and Public Affairs, continues the conversation from The Economics of Inclusion–Part 1 with Malika Laasri, Director General of MCA-Morocco and Oumar Diop, CEO of MCA-Senegal II, about the importance of integrating inclusion and gender in development.

Structural exclusion of disadvantaged groups is a problem in all countries, and MCC knows that widespread exclusion or inequality may constrain economic growth. In this episode, Aysha House, Vice President of the Department of Congressional and Public Affairs, speaks with Malika Laasri, Director General of MCA-Morocco and Oumar Diop, CEO of MCA-Senegal II, to talk about the importance of integrating inclusion and gender in development.

In less than three decades, the population of Ulaanbaatar has nearly tripled in size, increasing the city's demand for water. To prevent imminent water shortages and protect the quality of life, the $350M MCC-Mongolia Water Compact supports the Government of Mongolia's efforts to expand Ulaanbaatar's water supply. In this episode, Cameron Alford, MCC’s Vice President of the Department of Compact Operations, speaks with Tina Yu, MCC’s Resident Country Director, about this compact, which is MCC's largest investment in climate-smart infrastructure, building resiliency and the U.S.-Mongolia relationship.

In this episode, Aysha House, MCC's Vice President of Congressional and Public Affairs, speaks with Agnieszka Rawa, MCC's Managing Director of MCC Data Collaboratives for Local Impact, and Cina Lawson, Togo’s Minister of Digital Economy and Transformation about using digitization to unlock economic growth and attract private sector investments.

In February 2022, the U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation $500 million compact with the Government of Nepal was ratified. The compact aims to maintain road quality, increase the availability and reliability of electricity, and facilitate cross-border electricity trade between Nepal and India—helping to spur investments, accelerate economic growth, and reduce poverty.

MCC’s mission is to reduce poverty through economic growth. As a development agency, we partner with developing countries who are committed to good governance, economic freedom and investing in people. Investing in people is at the cornerstone of how MCC measures its development impact and value. As we look across MCC’s staff and culture, it’s important to build strong workplaces that foster inclusion, safety and compassion where teams are productive, and employees feel valued and respected.