$450 Million Bargain: Rivets Burkina Faso and the United States Government‘s Millennium Challenge Corporation in a Blueprint to Bolster Access to Electricity

By Abdul Rahman Bangura–

NEW AFRICA DAILYNEWS (NADN) Freetown, Sierra Leone- Seemingly, the $450 million agreements were formulated in cooperation with the government of Burkina Faso and shall subsidize in the power sector to stretch and maintain the country’s economic growth.

“We are marking a new chapter in the partnership between the United States and the people of Burkina Faso with the signing of this second MCC-Burkina Faso Compact,” stated MCC Chief Executive Officer-Sean Cairncross.

“This compact will address the high cost, poor quality, and low access to electricity in Burkina Faso and will also support the country’s increased participation in regional power markets and the development of a potential MCC regional investment.”

In upswing to the $450 million that MCC has promised for this second compact, the administration of Burkina Faso has agreed to invest $50 million toward the compact’s projects.

The combined investment of $500 million is estimated to profit eight million people in Burkina Faso through strengthening laws and institutions, improving energy infrastructure, increasing generation capacity, and source diversification. This will include exceptional access to electricity for citizens in Burkina Faso’s two largest cities—Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso.

This second compact will build on the success of MCC and Burkina Faso’s, which closed in 2014. The first compact invested $480 million in agriculture, land tenure, water management, roads, and girls’ education. Before the completion of the first compact, the project has been retained by pertinent Burkinabe government ministries.

For New Africa Daily News Abdul Rahman Bangura Reports,  Africa Correspondent

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