Government signs US$24.7m MCC deal

WASHINGTON - Rwanda will receive $ 24,73 million from the Millennium Challenge Corporation under the Threshold Program. Finance minister James Musoni signed the deal Wednesday on Capitol Hill in Washington on behalf of the government. A press release from the Finance ministry stated that the program aims at contributing to socioeconomic development focusing mainly on good governance in the country. The Deputy CEO of the MCC, Rodney Bent and Acting Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mr. James Kunder signed on behalf of the USA Government. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Musoni thanked the US government for the important role it has played in Rwanda’s reconstruction and reconciliation process. He stressed that this is perfectly aligned to the broader policy objectives of the Government of Rwanda as stipulated in the Vision 2020. “Good governance is one of the three flagship programmes of its Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS),” he is quoted in the statement as having said. He also re-affirmed to the MCC Board Members and USAID that programme objectives and results of MCC are in line with the key recommendations of the Joint Governance Assessment and that the Government of Rwanda was confident that the resources from the MCC will provide an opportunity to fast-track the implementation of these recommendations. MCC’s. Rodney Brent congratulated the Rwandan government and mentioned that the focus of this threshold program will be to foster democratic reforms and that it was an important chapter in Rwanda’s development. Ambassador Andrew Young expressed his commitment to supporting Rwanda in this new program and said that his company Goodworks International had been honoured to be part of Rwanda’s powerful story of reconciliation, forgiveness and rebirth. He mentioned that Rwanda has the largest number of women in Parliament in the world and that this program will help reinforce those achievements. Former congressman Jim Colby who is considered as the legislative father of the MCC also expressed his encouragement to the Government of Rwanda and said that the Threshold program is a stepping stone towards MCC ‘s eligibility and a tool to solidify Rwanda’s great efforts to strengthen good governance. Also present at the ceremony was newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda Stuart Symington, his predecessor Michael Arietti, Rwanda’s Ambassador to the US, James Kimonyo, Goodworks International Chairman Andrew Young and former Congressman and German Marshall Fund Senior Transatlantic Fellow Jim. Ambassador Young expressed his commitment to supporting Rwanda in this new program and said that his company, Goodworks International, had been honoured to be part of Rwanda’s powerful story of reconciliation, forgiveness and rebirth. He mentioned that Rwanda has the largest number of women in Parliament in the world and that this program will help reinforce those achievements. Former congressman Colby who is considered as the legislative father of the MCC, also expressed his encouragement to the Government of Rwanda and said that the Threshold program is a stepping stone towards MCC ‘s eligibility and a tool to solidify Rwanda’s great efforts to strengthen good governance. Ends

National

Government signs US$24.7m MCC deal