Eyewitness to progress: the signing of Namibia’s MCC compact
Blog entry by Rodney Bent, Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Namibia is celebrating its 18th year of independence and, as coincidence would have it, MCC today signed its 18th compact with Namibia, a $304.5 million partnership for education, ecotourism, and agriculture.
This morning, I met with Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba to congratulate him and his government on the compact. The government is intent upon development of its poorest areas, as Namibia has the second highest disparity of household income in the world. The compact has three main projects.
The education project will focus on school textbooks, primary and secondary school infrastructure improvements, vocational training, and a sustainable system of scholarships for post-secondary school students. We estimate that about a million students will benefit over the years from this project.
The ecotourism project, largely in the poor northern part of the country, will focus on communal conservancies, protecting Namibia’s astonishingly beautiful natural resources, including wildlife for future generations. In addition, this project will attract more tourists to Namibia and improve the jewel of the country’s tourism industry, Etosha National Park.
The agriculture project is focused on livestock, as a substantial number of households graze cattle on communal lands in northern Namibia. The project will provide veterinary centers and training for farmers in rangeland management, improved livestock productivity, and land access. A small part of the project is focused on helping poor families harvest high-value indigenous natural products like devil’s claw, marula oil, Kalahari melon seed, hoodia, and ximenia.
The signing ceremony was held at the office of the Prime Minister, with the Right Honorable Prime Minister Nahas Angula presiding over the event. A number of ministers, including the Director General of the National Planning Commission (NPC), board members of the NPC, and a U.S. trade mission organized by the Corporate Council on Africa were among the dignitaries who attended the event. Tonight, our Namibian counterparts will host us at a celebration to mark the compact’s signing at the base of the Auas Mountains, featuring a local choir and traditional dancers.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:47 am
Hi Rodney-
How is this going to help Namibia? They already have money. They just don’t know how to manage it very well. Have you ever been to Namibia? Corruption is commonplace. This money probably won’t reach those who really need it.
They will never move forward as a nation until they stop getting handouts and start becoming self sufficient and responsible for their own budget.
Donations like this don’t help they simply prolong the problem.
Think about it. Kala Po Nawa,
ICAREABOUTNAMIBIA
September 15th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Thank you for your response, ICareAboutNamibia. I share your sense of urgency and passion for Namibia’s future.
Good governance and an effective and strong fight against corruption are essential. Although these things are difficult to measure, the World Bank Institute judges Namibia at 88% in the Lower-Middle-Income-Country (LMIC) category, which makes its performance better than most of its peers.
Moreover, we go to considerate lengths to make sure that the grants we provide to Namibia – or any country – are effectively used. We have independent fiscal agents and a monitoring and evaluation department dedicated to ensuring that American taxpayers dollars are being used responsibly.
These are important considerations when investing millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars. I am glad to see so much interest in our program in Namibia and invite you to watch the video of a recent public outreach meeting we held that touched on some of these themes: http://www.mcc.gov/press/events/documents/outreach-091008-namibia.php