By Aminata Phidelia Allie
Chief of Staff at the Office of the President has said that the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with funds for development in the New Year is set to decide on poor countries, among them Sierra Leone.
Addressing newsmen at the Ministry of Information in Freetown, Dr. Kaifala Marah said the US government agency, which provides funds for low income nations, would reach a decision by Monday 17 December.
To be eligible for the lower amount of funding, a country must pass “crucial indicators” which include “control of corruption and either political rights or civil liberties”, which he said Sierra Leone had met.
He furthered that the funding was in two forms: “the threshold funds, which are around $10 million and the compact funds which can be hundreds of millions of dollars.”
“The MCC, which was set up in 2004, produces a scorecard on every low-income and lower-middle income country each year. Countries that pass the scorecard are eligible for MCC funding,” he said, adding that Sierra Leone was in the low-income category.
Dr. Marah said that for the first time Sierra Leone was able to pass the MCC scorecard which he described as a “fantastic achievement”, adding that Sierra Leone was now ranked joint 4th in West Africa and joint 12th in Africa.
“Also, we passed more indicators than 38 out of the 56 low income countries measured by the MCC. For this every Sierra Leonean should be proud.”
He said that in all of West Africa only Ghana, Senegal and Burkina Faso were ahead of Sierra Leone which is at per with Niger.
He said “Sierra Leone is already seen in a new way by the MCC. As a country ‘on the top’, excelling in a variety of areas, and poised for even greater success,” and expressed hope that as the MCC decides on Monday, they will “consider us this time around given Sierra Leone’s unique situation and the huge leap we have made in just one year.” (C) Politico 13/12/12
