Albania, Burkina Faso and Tanzania praise the US for aid

US praised for helping countries escape poverty

UNITED NATIONS — In words of praise rarely heard at the United Nations, leaders of several poor countries thanked the U.S. government and American taxpayers Tuesday for helping with economic development. The presidents of Tanzania and Burkina Faso and the prime minister of Albania said a U.S. government aid agency — which lets recipients decide on the best programs to reduce poverty — is having a major impact on the development of their countries. The three countries are among 38 nations in Africa, Asia, Europe and Central America that are receiving grants totaling over $7.3 billion from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an independent agency created by Congress in 2004 to help fight against global poverty.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said his government and people were “grateful recipients of generous support from the government and people of the United States.” Kikwete said none of the projects in Tanzania’s compact with the corporation were “dictated by the U.S. government.”“We identified the projects and we set the priorities. We made the strategic choices, and in our case we decided to use the entire compact resource in embracing some of our most pressing infrastructure challenges — roads, energy, water and airports,” he said.

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