Military Coup Halts Threshold Negotiations in Mauritania

The United States has suspended funding aid to Mauritania in response to the military coup last Wednesday. The decision, which excludes food and humanitarian assistance, will halt Threshold program negotiations underway with the MCC. Mauritania was named eligible to compete for FY 2008 MCA Threshold funding last year. This is an unfortunate turn of events for a fragile democracy and a reminder perhaps of the premium the MCC should place at eligibility decision time on the three democracy indicators included in its performance measures. Readers will recall that we raised concerns on the selection of Mauritania last year, noting that other countries had more solid performance trends overall and in particular for the three democracy proxies. Stay tuned for similar analysis this year from the MCA Monitor – with more to come including a look at the corruption hard hurdle, consideration of the threshold program, and the annual selection round prospects.