[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 188 (Friday, September 29, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67371-67372]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-21314]
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MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION
[MCC FR 23-06]
Notice of Entering Into a Compact With the Republic of Mozambique
AGENCY: Millennium Challenge Corporation.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the provisions of the Millennium Challenge
Act of 2003, as amended, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is
publishing a summary of the Millennium Challenge Compact (Compact)
between the United States of America and the Republic of Mozambique.
Representatives of the United States of America and the Republic of
Mozambique executed the Compact on September 21, 2023. The complete
text of the Compact has been posted at: https://assets.mcc.gov/content/uploads/compact-mozambique-ccr.pdf.
(Authority: 22 U.S.C. 7709 (b)(3))
Dated: September 25, 2023.
Gina Porto Spiro,
Acting Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary.
Summary of Mozambique Connectivity and Coastal Resilience Compact
The United States has signed a five-year, $500,000,000 Compact with
the Republic of Mozambique aimed at reducing poverty through economic
growth.
The Compact seeks to assist the Government of the Republic of
Mozambique (``GRM'') in addressing three major constraints to economic
growth: (i) the high cost and unreliability of road freight and
passenger transport services that inhibits input and output market
development, farm to market linkages, and access to basic public
services; (ii) agricultural policy, the legal and regulatory framework,
and implementation of the existing framework, which inhibit the
equitable and efficient functioning of input markets, vertical
coordination of value chains, and input and output market
competitiveness; and (iii) agricultural policy, the legal and
regulatory framework which has led to an overexploitation of fisheries
and depleted economic opportunities for coastal zones.
The Compact will address these constraints through three primary
projects:
(1) The Connectivity and Rural Transport Project (using the
Portuguese acronym, the ``CTR Project'');
(2) The Promoting Reform and Investment in Agriculture Project (the
``PRIA Project''); and
(3) The Coastal Livelihoods and Climate Resilience Project (the
``CLCR Project'').
Project Summaries
The Compact's three projects are described below:
The objective of the Connectivity and Rural Transport (CTR) Project
is to reduce the cost of transport in the province of Zambezia and
throughout Mozambique. The CTR Project will include a set of
investments in arterial routes, including a major bridge, and secondary
roads through rural areas to district centers as described below:
Licungo Bridge and Mocuba Bypass Activity--The Licungo
Bridge and Mocuba Bypass Activity is the principal activity under the
CTR Project and the GRM's highest priority transport project in
Zambezia. The investment will create a new major, high-level bridge,
replacing a nearly 80-year-old one, diverting the traffic around the
town of
[[Page 67372]]
Mocuba at a new site across the Licungo River via a 16km bypass.
Rural Roads Activity--This activity will focus on select
segments of arterial and secondary routes for inclusion in the Compact
to improve access to regional capitals, markets, and social services.
Policy and Institutional Reforms on Road Maintenance
Activity--This activity seeks to improve the reliability and adequacy
of funding for road maintenance and build capacity for road asset
management at the provincial level, as well as to promote gender equity
and social inclusion within the transport sector, specifically
enhancing opportunities for women and excluded groups in the road
sector.
In addition to the above activities, the Compact will support a
project-specific program management office to supervise the CTR
Project. This project management consultant is necessary to ensure the
geographically dispersed construction works in Zambezia are well
managed.
The objective of the Promoting Reform and Investment in Agriculture
(PRIA) Project is to increase agricultural investment as well as the
productivity and incomes of smallholder farmers, including female-
headed households, and other value chain actors in Mozambique.
This project is organized into two activities:
Reforms Package for Taxation of Agricultural Investment
Activity--This activity is a public financial management activity that
includes support for policy and institutional reform of the national
taxation framework in the agriculture sector, with a focus on improving
consistency and predictability of the value added tax, the corporate
income tax, and local tax application within both formal and informal
markets.
Zambezia Commercial Aggregator (ZCAP) Activity--This
activity will employ results-based financing (i.e., success payments)
and technical assistance to develop and strengthen sustainable market
linkages and contracts between commercial agricultural aggregators and
smallholder farmers. The ZCAP Activity will prioritize women
smallholder farmers and provide tailored training to smallholder farmer
households through the `Gender Action Learning System' to redress power
imbalances.
The Coastal Livelihoods and Climate Resilience (CLCR) Project seeks
to increase ecosystem productivity through sustainable increases in
fish and shellfish harvests and through non[hyphen]extractive benefits
from sustainable ecosystems, such as carbon credits and coastal
protection benefits.
This project is organized into two activities:
Coastal Livelihoods Activity--This activity will help
local communities better manage their fisheries through modernization
of practice, improvement to their fishing gear, improved supply chain,
and governance of local areas (establishment of no-catch zones to
replenish stocks).
Climate Resilience Activity--This activity will protect
and restore critical habitats through co-management with local
communities, conservation and creation of protected areas,
reforestation initiatives, and through carbon finance opportunities.
Compact Overview and Budget
The Compact Program is summarized in the budget table below. The
program budget is approximately $537,500,000, which includes up to
$500,000,000 funded by MCC and a GRM contribution of $37,500,000.
Table 1--Mozambique Compact Program Budget
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Component Amount
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1. Connectivity and Rural Transport Project............. $310,500,000
Activity 1: Licungo Bridge & Mocuba Bypass.......... 201,001,000
Activity 2: Rural Roads............................. 83,499,000
Activity 3: Policy and Institutional Reforms on Road 11,000,000
Maintenance........................................
Program Management Office........................... 15,000,000
2. Promoting Reform and Investment in Agriculture 30,000,000
Project................................................
Activity 1: Reforms Package for Taxation of 15,000,000
Agricultural Investments...........................
Activity 2: Zambezia Commercial Aggregator Platform. 15,000,000
3. Coastal Livelihoods & Climate Resilience Project..... 100,000,000
Activity 1: Partnership Climate Resilience.......... 56,300,000
Activity 2: Partnership Coastal Livelihoods......... 43,700,000
4. Monitoring and Evaluation............................ 7,000,000
5. Program Management and Administration................ 52,500,000
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Total MCC Funding............................... 500,000,000
Government of the Republic of Mozambique 37,500,000
Contribution...................................
Total Compact Program................................... 537,500,000
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[FR Doc. 2023-21314 Filed 9-28-23; 8:45 am]
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