January 26, 2021
By: James Kamara-Manneh
The Hon. Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh has Monday January 25th 2021 led a team of Senior Cabinet Ministers, the Financial Secretary and the Chief Executive Officer MCC to Senegal. The delegation went to Senegal on study tour to gain deeper insights into that country’s Compact Development Processes.
The Sierra Leone Minister of Finance, Jacob Jusu Saffa, the Minister of Economic Planning and Development- Dr. Francis Kai-Kai and the Chief Executive Officer, Sierra Leone’s MCC Accountability Entity- Mrs Ndeye Fatu Koroma formed part of the delegation.
Of specific interest to the delegation is the Senegalese prioritization of the energy sector under their Millennium Challenge Compact.
Also, the study tour is expected to build cooperation and collaboration between key Government Ministries in the two Governments.
While in Dakar and to ensure targeted and structured engagements, the delegation will hold key thematic discussions on the compact development and implementation.
Thematic areas to look at are the Compact Development consultation process, high level overview of Senegal’s compact development and deep dive into project development phase.
Several discussions will be held with the various Ministries of Petroleum and Gas, Water Resources, Finance and Energy and Power. Discussions will also be held with the relevant heads of water utility services and energy utility leaders and regulators.
The MCC program was established by the United States of America in 2004 and offers targeted assistance to poor countries that have a record of good governance and are also considered solid prospects for economic growth. Those who meet the conditions are rewarded with multimillion-dollar investment packages. Recipient countries are encouraged to work with the MCC and in consultation with their own citizens in order to generate plans for spending the money.
Senegal has been consistently qualified for the MCC compact and in 2009, they signed a $540 million Compact aimed at reducing poverty and increase economic growth.
In 2018, Senegal also signed a compact agreement with the MCC designed to increase reliability and access to electricity, support economic growth and reduce poverty.
