Next Steps

For the MCC
Road The Burkina compact is in many ways a turning point for the MCC, where best practices and lessons learned have been put into practice. The MCC needs to sustain this momentum going forward for other compacts, especially as its relationship with Congress remains tenuous. We stress several specific goals here:

  • Apply lessons learned in Burkina to future compacts. Although country ownership and political commitment are more difficult to foster, there are specific things the MCC can do to ensure success during compact development. These include providing substantial 609(g) and maximum CIF funding, continuing MCA National Coordinator study trips, hiring dynamic MCA and MCC staff, and ensuring a final compact that can be realistically implemented in five years.
  • Restructure the Threshold Program. It is clear that two-year programs do not provide a sufficient amount of time to substantially improve an indicator. Also, the focus of the threshold program (improving an indicator) does not necessarily synch with the compact goal of promoting national priorities based on consultations with civil society. BRIGHT is a good example of this inconsistency where girls’ education was not a priority identified by citizens, but was selected for investment only to improve performance on a failing indicator. The MCC should strongly consider the following range of options for the future of the Threshold Program:12

    • Augment the existing threshold program to incorporate an added emphasis on compact preparedness
    • Revamp the threshold program to focus exclusively on preparing countries for compact implementation
    • Eliminate the threshold program entirely and focus all resources on compact success

For Congress

The MCC is still a young institution that is learning. It is important to criticize when necessary, but also have patience with results.
  • Be patient and focus on the right results. Congress should focus on real results, not just disbursements, which will take time.
  • Continue funding the MCC at appropriate levels. For a time, Burkina Faso’s compact was under threat due to Congressional delays with the FY09 budget. The Senate originally slashed the MCC’s budget to $254 million, calling for a pause in new projects to focus on results in current compact countries. Burkina Faso’s compact was threatened by this cut. Fortunately, under the FY09 Omnibus Bill, the MCC was appropriated $875 million, although still far below the amount requested. After successfully implementing a threshold program, not having the money for Burkina’s compact would have seriously damaged U.S. credibility.
  • Evaluate the impact of the MCC model and apply it to broader foreign aid reform efforts. The MCC has been afforded the experiment of implementing an aid program that adopts key development effectiveness principles—focused mission, aid to well-governed countries, no earmarks, up-front money, and result-based design. Several compacts are nearing completion and it will be important to evaluate whether the MCC was able to more effectively deliver results.

    12For further ideas, please read the CGD paper From Innovation to Impact: Next Steps for the Millennium Challenge Corporation.