US and Kenya Agree on Connectivity Grant Worth $60 Million

By Samuel Ouma The United States' Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and Kenya's government have inked a $60 million Kenya threshold program agreement to strengthen urban connections and boost economic growth in Kenya. The deal was sealed during the New York United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). “This grant from MCC to the Government of Kenya is the largest and one of the most ambitious threshold programs that MCC has ever implemented with a partner country,” MCC CEO Alice Albright said. “It reflects MCC’s confidence in Kenya to address its own challenges to economic growth and is yet one more symbol of the longstanding relationship between our two countries.” The program is centred in Nairobi, where it strives to fortify institutions and promote long-term planning for integrated, accessible, and safer transportation and land use. Among its features will be an emphasis on pedestrian transportation requirements and the developing of more visible transit choices for women. It will also give financial assistance for purchasing environmentally efficient buses for the growing bus rapid transit (BRT) network. “The Government of Kenya is committed to the activities and reforms that make up our Threshold Program, which we jointly designed with MCC,” said Njuguna Ndung’u, Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury and Economic Planning of Kenya, upon signing the agreement. “This planned investment will strengthen our transport and land sectors and will generate benefits for the people of Nairobi, as well as for all Kenyans.” MCC threshold programs are grants that enable partner nations to show their commitment to democratic government, economic independence, and investment in their people by implementing selected policy changes and capacity-building initiatives.