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Dr. Sohan Dasgupta, appointed earlier this yr because the political head of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), instructed Fox Information Digital he’s stepping down after a four-month dash, declaring his mission to protect and reposition the U.S. company as a strategic international coverage device as “achieved.”
Created by Congress in 2004, MCC delivers five-year infrastructure and power compacts to creating nations that meet strict governance requirements. Not like conventional assist, its investments are structured to drive long-term financial development and open markets for U.S. firms.
Since its creation beneath President George W. Bush, MCC has usually been grouped with different U.S. assist applications.
Profession workers have lengthy emphasised improvement targets like poverty discount, schooling, and infrastructure, however in contrast to USAID, MCC was established as a company physique with a fiduciary responsibility to make sure effectiveness.
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Dr. Sohan Dasgupta, political head of the Millennium Problem Company, meets with Senegalese officers to debate MCC applications. (Courtesy of Dr. Sohan Dasgupta)
A White Home official, talking on background to Fox Information Digital, argued the company too usually introduced itself as assist somewhat than funding earlier than President Donald Trump took workplace.
Dasgupta pushed workers to undertake a special lens, urgent them to judge initiatives primarily based on the return on funding for the US, the diploma of strategic alignment with accomplice nations, and whether or not MCC compacts could possibly be used to strengthen U.S. leverage in negotiations.
A Middle for Strategic and Worldwide Research (CSIS) report this spring argued that MCC will not be a standard assist company however an “funding” device uniquely fitted to an “America First” agenda.
The authors warned shuttering it could hand China “diplomatic and financial wins” whereas leaving half-built initiatives overseas, and famous Trump-era accomplice alternatives, from Nepal to Côte d’Ivoire to the Pacific Islands, have been strategically chosen to counter Chinese language affect.
“America and the world are safer, stronger, and extra affluent with the MCC mannequin than with out it,” the report concluded.
Dr. Dasgupta is leaving the Millennium Problem Company after a quick stint within the company as an appointee beneath President Trump. (ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP through Getty Photographs)
MCC’s present portfolio beneath Trump contains a few of its largest-ever compacts: a $500 million deal in Nepal funding almost 200 miles of transmission strains, a $480 million compact in Sierra Leone increasing electrical energy entry and a $202 million program in Kosovo centered on grid-scale battery storage. Different investments embody $536 million in Côte d’Ivoire, $537 million in Mozambique and a water compact in Mongolia.
Dasgupta instructed Fox Information Digital that his position was to press MCC workers to suppose by way of U.S. nationwide safety and financial advantages. “Reforming MCC into an important nationwide safety and international coverage asset” was how he described his “mission achieved” second.
A Might 9 e-mail from the White Home Liaison to MCC workers, obtained by Fox Information Digital, exhibits Dasgupta was appointed as a Schedule C Senior Advisor “assuming political management for the company.”
MCC’s Fiscal 12 months 2026 Candidate Nation Report, launched this month, lists Kosovo, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Mongolia, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Tonga amongst its eligible accomplice nations.
Dr. Sohan Dasgupta, political head of the Millennium Problem Company, meets with Nepal’s ambassador at MCC headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy of Dr. Sohan Dasgupta)
“Service has many varieties. My objective was to hold out explicit initiatives and missions, then make means for others,” Dasgupta stated.
On China, he added: “Essential minerals and uncommon earth components are an important a part of American energy … MCC has actually understood that.”
Kosovo’s ambassador to the U.S., Ilir Dugolli, praised Dasgupta’s responsiveness. “We labored carefully quickly after he arrived at MCC … I respect him enormously for the way in which he dealt with his portfolio and the way skilled he was,” Dugolli instructed Fox Information Digital.
On power safety, Dugolli stated: “Kosovo absolutely aligns with U.S. international coverage … Batteries are extraordinarily vital, particularly after final yr’s terrorist assault on the Iber-Lepenc canal. The compact is the only most important funding for our nation’s power safety and financial resilience.”
Dasgupta’s departure additionally comes because the Trump administration pursues cuts to conventional U.S. international assist applications and seeks to reframe America’s global engagement beneath its “America First” coverage.
Former staff of USAID depart the headquarters constructing in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, February 27, 2025. The layoffs come after DOGE’s evaluation of the group and advice for mass layoffs. (Leigh Inexperienced for Fox Information Digital)
Whereas businesses akin to USAID have confronted reductions and restructuring, Dasgupta argues the MCC has been preserved as a leaner, investment-driven device aligned with the administration’s emphasis on strategic offers and competitors with China.
Analysts estimate China controls about 70% of world uncommon earth mining and almost 90% of processing capability, in response to the Oxford Institute for Vitality Research.
Between 2023 and 2025, China imposed export restrictions on strategic minerals, in response to CSIS. Dasgupta argues MCC’s work in allied nations might help diversify provide chains and strengthen resilience, although MCC has not publicly described important minerals as a proper focus of its work.
“We would like independence in each sense of the phrase … these are the premises and predicates of American energy,” Dasgupta stated.
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“Fast wins” like Kosovo’s battery undertaking and Nepal’s energy strains, Dasgupta stated, present how American assist can advance prosperity overseas whereas reinforcing safety at residence.
Together with his departure, MCC continues compacts in dozens of nations worldwide.
The MCC didn’t instantly reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.
