Millennium Challenge Corporation: Lessons Learned after a Decade and Outlook for the Future

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), created a decade ago, was intended to take a unique approach to the development and foreign aid. As designed, the MCC provides development assistance for clearly defined economic objectives in full partnership with a developing country. MCC compacts are earned, not given. With a set of clear indicators that emphasize democratic governance and economic freedoms that determine selectivity, the MCC works with successful countries committed to establishing appropriate enabling environments in which entrepreneurship and economic growth can thrive. Further, MCC is unique in that this process is strongly driven by data and transparency. The MCC is working to reduce poverty in three ways: first, by incentivizing countries to make meaningful reforms, second, by funding projects with tangible outcomes and real impact, and third, by focusing on systemic change that will outlive MCC's engagement.