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Zambia today signed a US$ 8.3 million grant with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to enhance Zambia’s agriculture production and productivity.
This was the second Compact Development Funding Grant Agreement signed with the MCC with the first one sealed from 2013 to 2018 worth US$354.8 million with a focus on investments in the water, sanitation and drainage infrastructure in Lusaka and benefited over one million people.
Since the beginning of this year, The Zambian government has been working with the MCC and other stakeholders to undertake various activities toward the development of the Second Compact.
Finance and National Development Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane, said this at the signing of the agreement of a US$8.3 million grant in Zambia’s capital Lusaka on Thursday, December 8, 2022.
Musokotwane said the signing of the grant agreement demonstrated Zambia’s continued commitment to strengthening the capacity of its institutions and implementing solid economic and fiscal policies and improving the lives of all Zambians.
Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane greets Millennium Challenge Principal Deputy Vice President Kyeh Kim as US Ambassador to Zambia Michael Gonzales during the Signing Ceremony at the Ministry of Finance on Thursday, December 8, 2022. Picture by THOMAS NSAMA/ZANIS–
He said it also demonstrated the long and strong bilateral relations that existed between Zambia and the United States of America and specifically with the MCC.
“This grant will assist Zambia to narrow down to improve the agriculture sector. In the next one year, we will be doing project preparations and this money will assist us to get to the final products on the exact interventions needed to improve the agriculture sector.
“It will push agriculture upwards and create jobs. We want our citizens to find jobs here and not migrate to unsafe places to look for jobs,” Dr Musokotwane said.
The grant, he says, will assist Zambia in developing a Compact focused on areas set forth in the prioritised binding constraints to growth.
The Minister says this will support project definition and project development which includes preliminary programme design and feasibility studies, as well as administrative costs.
United States Ambassador Michael Gonzales says his government has identified the agriculture sector, particularly as a driving carrier for Zambia’s economy.
Ambassador Gonzales says the MCC project is therefore a key component to unleashing Zambia’s economy and potential.
“Clearly Zambia’s potential is massive and here MCC plays a key critical role as a catalyst in unlocking key economic growth to support job creation and revenue generation. We see a country of massive potential with economic growth,” he says.
Ambassador Gonzales also says the relations between Zambia and the United States of America have become stronger with the coming of the current Government.
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