[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:
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> 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:
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> 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:
    <bullet> 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).
    <bullet> 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
                                                         ---------------
        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]
BILLING CODE 9211-03-P