AGENCY:

Millennium Challenge Corporation.

ACTION:

Notice.

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))

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:

• 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);
• 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 ( printed page 56674)
• 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:

• 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);
• 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. Côte 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]

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]

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

• 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.
• Burkina Faso is ineligible to receive foreign assistance pursuant to the military coup restriction in section 7008 of the FY 2026 NSRP.
• 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.
• 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.).
• 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.).
• Eritrea is ineligible to receive foreign assistance as it is subject to numerous restrictions including for ( printed page 56675) 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.).
• 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.).
• Mali is ineligible to receive foreign assistance pursuant to the military coup restriction in section 7008 of the FY 2026 NSRP.
• 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.).
• Niger is ineligible to receive foreign assistance pursuant to the military coup restriction in section 7008 of the FY 2026 NSRP.
• 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.).
• 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.
• 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.