[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 169 (Friday, September 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60501-60503]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18891]


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MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION

[MCC FR 23-04]


Millennium Challenge Corporation Candidate Country Report for 
Fiscal Year 2024

AGENCY: Millennium Challenge Corporation.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, as amended, requires the 
Millennium Challenge Corporation to publish a report that identifies 
countries that are ``candidate countries'' for Millennium Challenge 
Account assistance during Fiscal Year 2024. The report is set forth in 
full below.

(Authority: 22 U.S.C. 7707(a))

    Dated: August 28, 2023.
Gina Porto Spiro,
Acting Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary.

Millennium Challenge Corporation Candidate Country Report for Fiscal 
Year 2024

Summary

    This report to Congress is provided in accordance with section 
608(a) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, as amended, 22 U.S.C. 
7701, 7707(a) (the Act).
    The Act authorizes the provision of assistance for global 
development through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for 
countries that enter into a Millennium Challenge Compact with the 
United States to support policies and programs that advance the 
progress of such countries to achieve lasting economic growth and 
poverty reduction. The Act requires MCC to take a number of steps in 
selecting countries with which MCC will seek to enter into a compact, 
including determining the countries that will be eligible countries for 
fiscal year (FY) 2024 based on (a) a country's demonstrated commitment 
to (i) just and democratic governance, (ii) economic freedom, and (iii) 
investments in its people; (b) the opportunity to reduce poverty and 
generate economic growth in the country; and (c) the availability of 
funds to MCC. These steps include the submission to the congressional 
committees specified in the Act and publication in the Federal Register 
of reports on the following:
    <bullet> The countries that are ``candidate countries'' for FY 2024 
based on their per capita income levels and their eligibility to 
receive assistance under U.S. law and countries that would be candidate 
countries but for specified legal prohibitions on assistance (section 
608(a) of the Act);
    <bullet> The criteria and methodology that the MCC Board of 
Directors (the Board) will use to measure and evaluate the relative 
policy performance of the ``candidate countries'' consistent with the 
requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of section 607 of the Act in 
order to determine ``eligible countries'' from among the ``candidate 
countries'' (section 608(b) of the Act); and
    <bullet> The list of countries determined by the Board to be 
``eligible countries'' for FY 2024, identification of such countries 
with which the Board will seek to enter into compacts, and a 
justification for such eligibility determination and selection for 
compact negotiation (section 608(d) of the Act).
    This report is the first of three required reports listed above.

Candidate Countries for FY 2024

    The Act requires the identification of all countries that are 
candidate countries for purposes of eligibility for MCC compact 
assistance for FY 2024 and the identification of all countries that 
would be candidate countries for purposes of eligibility for MCC 
compact assistance but for specified legal prohibitions on assistance. 
Under sections 606(a) and (b) of the Act, candidate countries must 
qualify as low income or lower middle income countries as defined in 
the Act.
    Specifically, a country will be a candidate country in the low 
income category for FY 2024 if it
    <bullet> has a per capita income that is not greater than the World 
Bank's lower middle income country threshold for such fiscal year 
($4,465 gross national income per capita for FY 2023);
    <bullet> is among the 75 countries identified by the World Bank as 
having the lowest per capita income; and
    <bullet> is not ineligible to receive United States economic 
assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as 
amended (the Foreign Assistance Act), by reason of the application of 
the Foreign Assistance Act or any other provision of law.
    A country will be a candidate country in the lower middle income 
category for FY 2024 if it
    <bullet> has a per capita income that is not greater than the World 
Bank's lower middle income country threshold for such fiscal year 
($4,465 gross national income per capita for FY 2024);
    <bullet> is not among the 75 countries identified by the World Bank 
as having the lowest per capita income; and
    <bullet> is not ineligible to receive United States economic 
assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act by reason of the 
application of the Foreign Assistance Act or any other provision of 
law.
    Under section 606(c) of the Act as applied for FY 2024, a country 
with per capita income changes from FY 2023 to FY 2024 such that the 
country would be reclassified from the low income category to the lower 
middle income category or vice versa will retain its income status in 
its former category for FY 2024 and two subsequent fiscal years (FY 
2025 and FY 2026). A country that has transitioned to the upper middle 
income category does not qualify as a candidate country.
    Pursuant to section 606(d) of the Act, the Board identified the 
following countries as candidate countries under the Act for FY 2024. 
In so doing, the Board referred to the prohibitions on assistance to 
countries for FY 2023 under the Department of State, Foreign 
Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2023 (FY 2023 
SFOAA) contained in Division K of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2023 (Pub. L. 117-103).
Candidate Countries: Low Income Category
1. Afghanistan
2. Angola
3. Bangladesh
4. Benin
5. Bhutan
6. Bolivia
7. Burundi
8. Cabo Verde
9. Cameroon
10. Central African Republic
11. Chad
12. Comoros
13. Congo, Democratic Republic of the
14. Congo, Republic of the

[[Page 60502]]

15. C[ocirc]te d'Ivoire
16. Djibouti
17. Egypt
18. Eswatini
19. Ethiopia
20. Gambia, The
21. Ghana
22. Guinea-Bissau
23. Honduras
24. India
25. Kenya
26. Kiribati
27. Kyrgyzstan
28. Laos
29. Lebanon
30. Lesotho
31. Liberia
32. Madagascar
33. Malawi
34. Mauritania
35. Micronesia, Federated States of
36. Mongolia
37. Morocco
38. Mozambique
39. Nepal
40. Niger *
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    * Note that, should events that began in July 2023 in Niger be 
assessed to trigger restrictions on foreign assistance pursuant to 
the military coup restriction in section 7008 of the FY 2023 SFOAA, 
Niger will not be a candidate country.
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41. Nigeria
42. Pakistan
43. Papua New Guinea
44. Philippines
45. Rwanda
46. Sao Tome and Principe
47. Senegal
48. Sierra Leone
49. Solomon Islands
50. Somalia
51. Tajikistan
52. Tanzania
53. Timor-Leste
54. Togo
55. Tunisia
56. Uganda
57. Ukraine
58. Uzbekistan
59. Vanuatu
60. Vietnam
61. Yemen
62. Zambia
Candidate Countries: Lower Middle Income Category
1. Algeria
2. Jordan
3. Samoa

Countries That Would Be Candidate Countries but for Legal Provisions 
That Prohibit Assistance

    Countries that would be considered candidate countries for purposes 
of eligibility for MCC compact assistance for FY 2024 but are 
ineligible to receive United States economic assistance under part I of 
the Foreign Assistance Act by reason of the application of any 
provision of the Foreign Assistance Act or any other provision of law 
are listed below. This list is based on legal prohibitions against 
economic assistance that apply as of July 25, 2023.
Prohibited Countries: Low Income Category
    <bullet> Burkina Faso is ineligible to receive foreign assistance 
pursuant to the military coup restriction in section 7008 of the FY 
2023 SFOAA.
    <bullet> Burma is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it is 
subject to numerous restrictions including concerns relative to its 
record on human rights and pursuant to the military coup restriction in 
section 7008 of the FY 2023 SFOAA.
    <bullet> Cambodia is ineligible to receive foreign assistance 
pursuant to section 7043(b)(2) of the FY 2023 SFOAA, which restricts 
(with limited exceptions) assistance to the Government of Cambodia 
unless the Secretary of State certifies that the Government of Cambodia 
is taking effective steps to strengthen regional security and stability 
and respect the rights and responsibilities enshrined in the 
Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
    <bullet> Eritrea is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it 
is subject to numerous restrictions including concerns relative to its 
record on human rights and its status as a Tier 3 country under the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).
    <bullet> Guinea is ineligible to receive foreign assistance 
pursuant to the military coup restriction in section 7008 of the FY 
2023 SFOAA.
    <bullet> Haiti is ineligible to receive foreign assistance unless 
the Secretary of State provides a certification pursuant to section 
7045(c)(2) of the FY 2023 SFOAA.
    <bullet> Iran is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it is 
subject to numerous restrictions including as a state sponsor of 
terrorism under Section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2371) and its status as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).
    <bullet> Korea North ,is ineligible to receive foreign assistance 
as it is subject to numerous restrictions including section 7007 of the 
FY 2023 SFOAA and its status as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).
    <bullet> Mali is ineligible to receive foreign assistance pursuant 
to the military coup restriction in section 7008 of the FY 2023 SFOAA.
    <bullet> Nicaragua is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as 
it is subject to numerous restrictions including its status as a Tier 3 
country under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 
7101 et seq.) and under section 7047(c) of the FY 2023 SFOAA related to 
its recognition posture with respect to the Russian Federation occupied 
Georgian territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia.
    <bullet> South Sudan is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as 
it is subject to numerous restrictions including under section 7042(g) 
of the FY 2023 SFOAA, for concerns relative to its record on human 
rights, and its status as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).
    <bullet> Sudan is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it is 
subject to numerous restrictions including the military coup 
restriction in section 7008 of the FY 2023 SFOAA.
    <bullet> Syria is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it is 
subject to numerous restrictions including as a state sponsor of 
terrorism under Section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2371) and its status as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking 
Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).
    <bullet> Zimbabwe is ineligible to receive foreign assistance, 
including pursuant to section 7042(j)(2) of the FY 2023 SFOAA, which 
prohibits (with limited exceptions) assistance for the central 
government of Zimbabwe unless the Secretary of State certifies and 
reports to Congress that the rule of law has been restored, including 
respect for ownership and title to property, and freedoms of 
expression, association, and assembly.
Prohibited Countries: Lower Middle Income Category
    <bullet> Sri Lanka is ineligible to receive foreign assistance 
pursuant to section 7044(e)(2) of the FY 2023 SFOAA, which restricts 
(with limited exceptions) assistance for the central government unless 
the Secretary makes certain certifications regarding actions taken by 
the Government of Sri Lanka and reports to the Committees on 
Appropriations.
    Countries identified above as candidate countries, as well as 
countries that would be considered candidate countries but for the 
applicability of legal provisions that prohibit U.S. economic 
assistance, may be the subject of future statutory restrictions or 
determinations, or changed country circumstances, that affect their 
legal

[[Page 60503]]

eligibility for assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act 
by reason of application of the Foreign Assistance Act or any other 
provision of law for FY 2024.

[FR Doc. 2023-18891 Filed 8-31-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9211-03-P