Notice2026-17997
Millennium Challenge Corporation Candidate Country Report for Fiscal Year 2027
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 3, 2026
Issuing agencies
Millennium Challenge Corporation
Abstract
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 2027. The report is set forth in full below.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 170 (Thursday, September 3, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 170 (Thursday, September 3, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56673-56675]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-17997]
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MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION
[MCC FR 26-06]
Millennium Challenge Corporation Candidate Country Report for
Fiscal Year 2027
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 2027. The report is set forth in
full below.
(Authority: 22 U.S.C. 7707(a))
Dated: August 31, 2026.
Brian Finkelstein,
Acting Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary.
Millennium Challenge Corporation Candidate Country Report for Fiscal
Year 2027 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 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. Section 607(c)(2) of 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) 2027 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 2027
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
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<bullet> The list of countries determined by the Board to be
``eligible countries'' for FY 2027, identification of such countries
with which the United States, through MCC, 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 the three required reports listed
above.
Candidate Countries for FY 2027
The Act requires the identification of all countries that are
candidate countries for purposes of eligibility for MCC compact
assistance for FY 2027 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) of the Act, a country is considered a candidate
country for FY 2027 if it:
<bullet> has a per capita income that is not greater than the World
Bank's threshold for initiating the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development graduation process for such fiscal year
($8,105 gross national income per capita for FY 2027);
<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.
Pursuant to section 606(b) of the Act, the Board identified the
following countries as candidate countries under the Act for FY 2027.
In so doing, the Board referred to the prohibitions on assistance to
countries for FY 2026 under the National Security, Department of State,
and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2026 (Div. F, P.L. 119-75) (FY
2026 NSRP).
Candidate Countries
1. Algeria
2. Angola
3. Azerbaijan
4. Bangladesh
5. Belize
6. Benin
7. Bhutan
8. Bolivia
9. Botswana
10. Burundi
11. Cabo Verde
12. Cambodia
13. Cameroon
14. Central African Republic
15. Colombia
16. Comoros
17. Congo, Democratic Republic of the
18. Congo, Republic of the
19. C[ocirc]te d'Ivoire
20. Djibouti
21. Ecuador
22. Egypt
23. El Salvador
24. Equatorial Guinea
25. Eswatini
26. Ethiopia
27. Fiji
28. Gabon
29. Gambia, The
30. Ghana
31. Guatemala
32. Guinea
33. Guinea-Bissau \1\
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\1\ Guinea-Bissau shall be considered a candidate country to the
extent it is deemed to be consistent with law.
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34. Haiti
35. Honduras
36. India
37. Indonesia
38. Iraq
39. Jamaica
40. Jordan
41. Kenya
42. Kiribati
43. Kosovo
44. Kyrgyz Republic
45. Lao PDR
46. Lebanon
47. Lesotho
48. Liberia
49. Libya
50. Madagascar \2\
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\2\ Madagascar shall be considered a candidate country to the
extent it is deemed to be consistent with law.
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51. Malawi
52. Mauritania
53. Micronesia, Federated States of
54. Moldova
55. Mongolia
56. Morocco
57. Mozambique
58. Namibia
59. Nepal
60. Nigeria
61. Pakistan
62. Papua New Guinea
63. Paraguay
64. Philippines
65. Rwanda
66. Samoa
67. Sao Tome and Principe
68. Senegal
69. Sierra Leone
70. Solomon Islands
71. Somalia
72. South Africa
73. Sri Lanka
74. Suriname
75. Syria
76. Tajikistan
77. Tanzania
78. Thailand
79. Timor-Leste
80. Togo
81. Tonga
82. Tunisia
83. Turkmenistan
84. Uganda
85. Ukraine
86. Uzbekistan
87. Vanuatu
88. Venezuela
89. Vietnam
90. Yemen
91. Zambia
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 2027 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 August 12, 2026.
Prohibited Countries
<bullet> Afghanistan is ineligible to receive foreign assistance
pursuant to section 706 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act,
Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-228), addressing major drug transit or
major illicit drug producing countries, and its status as a Tier 3
country under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C.
7101 et seq.). There is also a restriction on assistance to the Taliban
in section 7044(a) of the FY 2026 NSRP.
<bullet> Burkina Faso is ineligible to receive foreign assistance
pursuant to the military coup restriction in section 7008 of the FY
2026 NSRP.
<bullet> Burma is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it is
subject to numerous restrictions including for concerns regarding its
record on human rights and pursuant to the military coup restriction in
section 7008 of the FY 2026 NSRP, and pursuant to section 7043(a) of
the FY 2026 NSRP.
<bullet> Chad is ineligible to receive foreign assistance pursuant
to its status as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).
<bullet> Democratic People's Republic of Korea is ineligible to
receive foreign assistance as it is subject to numerous restrictions
including pursuant to section 7007 of the FY 2026 NSRP and its status
as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of
2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).
<bullet> Eritrea is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it
is subject to numerous restrictions including for
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concerns relative to its record on human rights and pursuant to its
status as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act
of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.).
<bullet> Iran is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it is
subject to numerous restrictions including pursuant to section 7007 of
the FY 2026 NSRP 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 2026 NSRP.
<bullet> Nicaragua is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as
it is subject to numerous restrictions including pursuant to section
7047(c) of the FY 2026 NSRP related to its recognition posture with
respect to the Russian Federation occupied Georgian territories of
Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia and its status as a Tier 3
country under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C.
7101 et seq.).
<bullet> Niger is ineligible to receive foreign assistance pursuant
to the military coup restriction in section 7008 of the FY 2026 NSRP.
<bullet> South Sudan is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as
it is subject to numerous restrictions including for concerns relative
to its record on human rights, and pursuant to 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 pursuant to the military
coup restriction in section 7008 of the FY 2026 NSRP.
<bullet> Zimbabwe is ineligible to receive foreign assistance,
including pursuant to section 7042(h)(2) of the FY 2026 NSRP, 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.
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 (e.g. a country being ranked on Tier 3 in the annual
Trafficking in Persons Report issued by the U.S. Department of State,
which has not received an appropriate waiver), or changed country
circumstances, that affect their legal 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 2027.
[FR Doc. 2026-17997 Filed 9-2-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9211-03-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 3, 2026.
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