Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Board Approves Threshold Program to Combat Corruption in Tanzania

Washington, DC — MCC's Board of Directors has approved up to $11.15 million in Threshold Program assistance to initiate a multi-sectoral attack on corruption in Tanzania. Tanzania's Threshold Program is expected to span a two-year period and will enable Tanzania to enhance local capacity to fight corruption, strengthen the rule of law for good governance and increase oversight of public procurement.

“I offer my congratulations to the Government of Tanzania for putting together an integrated and results-oriented Threshold Program,” said MCC CEO Ambassador John Danilovich. “Also I would like to acknowledge the hard work of our colleagues at USAID, the Treasury Department, the Department of Justice, and U.S. Embassy staff under Ambassador Retzer in making this Program a reality. ”

Tanzania's Threshold Program will improve the ability of civil society to monitor the government's progress in combating corruption; strengthen the rule of law so that corruption cases can be successfully tried and offenders convicted; establish a Financial Intelligence Unit to detect financial crime; and increase the transparency of public procurement. The U.S. Agency for International Development, assisted by the Departments of Treasury and Justice, will administer and oversee implementation of the program. Tanzania will move ahead to implement its Threshold Program following a period of Congressional notification and a signing ceremony, scheduled to take place in Washington, DC.

MCC's Threshold Country Program is designed to assist countries that are on the “threshold,” meaning that they are committed to undertaking the reforms necessary to improve policy performance in the indicators central to being named eligible for MCC Compact assistance. Two Threshold Program agreements have been signed since MCC began operations in 2004. The first, with Burkina Faso, will improve access to, and the quality of, primary education for girls in 10 provinces that have historically achieved the lowest levels of girls' primary education completion rates. The second, with Malawi, focuses on fighting corruption and improving fiscal management.

In November of 2005, Tanzania was selected as eligible for the Millennium Challenge Account. (MCA). Once signed, Tanzania's Threshold Program would run in parallel with the country's development of a proposal for an MCA Compact. MCC has completed five Compacts to date, totaling nearly $1 billion, with Madagascar, Honduras, Cape Verde, Nicaragua, and Georgia. The MCC Board has recently approved Compacts with Armenia, Vanuatu, and Benin, worth over $600 million.

Tanzania Fact Sheet

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Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government corporation designed to work with some of the poorest countries in the world, is based on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces good governance, economic freedom, and investments in people that promote economic growth and elimination of extreme poverty.