The chief executive of US-based Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has praised their ongoing development partnership with Gambia. 

Alice Albright recently visited The Gambia to celebrate the progress of MCC grant programmes in the country.

She met with Vice President of The Gambia Muhammad Jallow, and U.S. Ambassador Sharon Cromer and toured sites in Banjul to get a feel for the economic growth constraints related to electrical power, education, and the underutilisation of the Gambia River. 

She also celebrated the opening of the Millennium Challenge Account-Gambia (MCA-Gambia) Threshold Programme offices. 

The $25 million MCC-Gambia Threshold Grant, signed in 2021, aims to address electrical power constraints by reducing outages and reforming power sector governance.

In 2022, The Gambia became eligible for an even larger MCC development grant, called a compact. 

Albright demonstrated the U.S. Government’s commitment to a long and productive partnership during her stop in The Gambia by announcing an initial $12 million grant to support the development of the proposed MCC-Gambia Compact. 

The Government of The Gambia will be able to use the $12 million grant to identify feasible plans for economy-boosting projects designed to improve secondary education for Gambian students and maximize the economic benefits of the Gambia River for the people.