$461 million grant will help Mali invest in a brighter future

In the United States, $461 million would fund 584 feet of Boston’s Big Dig highway project.

In Mali, however, that amount of money will build a 247-acre industrial park, remodel an airport and provide irrigation for almost 62 square miles of West African farmland.

These Malian-developed plans became part of a contract with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) last Monday when Ambassador John J. Danilovich, chief executive officer of the MCC, and Moctar Ouane, Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, signed the accord.

“Mali represents the hopes and aspirations of billions on the African continent and around the world who yearn for freedom and prosperity,” Mr. Danilovich told Malian delegates at the signing. “Achieving [this plan] will transform your country and will create unprecedented opportunities for reducing poverty and sustaining economic growth.”

Proposed in 2002 by President Bush, the MCC began operation as part of the U.S. government in 2004. The corporation hopes to reduce poverty and encourage economic growth in developing countries by issuing funds over multiple years for specific projects planned by each eligible country.

Mali and El Salvador most recently received approval for grants, joining the ranks of nine other countries receiving MCC assistance — Armenia, Benin, Cape Verde, Georgia, Ghana, Honduras, Madagascar, Nicaragua and Vanuatu. Total grant money has reached almost $3 billion.

Little goes a long way

Mali’s President Amadou Toure told the audience at the signing that his country views the grant as a reward for good governance.

“The people of Mali deserve credit for making sacrifices to pursue democracy,” he said.

In an interview, he said Mali had “won the jackpot,” because it got the second largest MCC grant to date, after Ghana.

In a country with an annual income of $380 per person, $461 million goes a long way, members of the Malian delegation told The Washington Times. Moussa Ouattara, the Malian compact coordinator, said Malians expect their economy to grow an additional 2 percent each year as a result of the project.

“In five years, it’s about the amount of money that we receive from all other donors each year in terms of grant money, so this is big money,” Mr. Ouattara said. “This is money that [is spent on] projects. It’s not spread across the whole country.”

The compact will fund a $234.6 million irrigation project, which will make water from the Niger River available for livestock and growers’ cereal crops in the Alatona region, which has unpredictable weather patterns.

In addition, the compact designates $89.6 million for improvements to Bamako-Senou International Airport, designed to increase the landlocked country’s efficiency in handling passengers and freight, and $94.6 million for building an industrial park at the airport, where Malians will process crops to make them more suitable for export. The remaining funds will go to program management.

By the people

Story Continues →