Denver business executive Daniel Yohannes was sworn in Tuesday as chief executive of the federal foreign-aid agency Millennium Challenge Corp.
He was nominated to the post this year by President Barack Obama.
Yohannes, 57, said he will bring skills learned in his banking and investment careers to promote the agency.
The Millennium Challenge Corp. disburses federal funds for programs that stimulate economic growth and reduce poverty in foreign countries.
The agency’s budget was $890 million last year. Obama is pushing for a 42 percent increase in this year’s spending.
“I’ve seen firsthand how poverty affects people, how dehumanizing it is, how decivilizing,” said Yohannes, who was born in Ethiopia and immigrated to the U.S. with $150 in his pocket at age 17.
He launched a career in banking, ascending to the top post at Colorado National Bank. After the bank was acquired by U.S. Bank, he served as vice chairman for the Minneapolis-based bank-holding company.
Yohannes said he is intrigued with the federal agency’s approach of requiring recipient countries to show evidence of good governance and free-market economics.
“It’s smart aid, if you will,” he said, “because it’s invested very efficiently and it’s 100 percent objective in how countries are selected.”
The agency was created in 2004 and so far has approved $7.4 billion in grants, including funding for agriculture and irrigation, health care, roads and bridges, anti-corruption initiatives and education programs.
While much of U.S. foreign aid is disbursed to countries in large payments, the project-specific orientation of the Millennium Challenge Corp. serves a special need, said Sousan Urroz-Korori, a senior finance instructor at the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business.
“Microfinance is, by far, a much better approach than conventional types of direct aid because it helps people access credit and develop entrepreneurial skills,” she said. “With macro programs, by the time the poor receive it, that dollar is only worth a penny, or a nickel at best. But micro programs can take that dollar and very much help people.”
However, the Millennium Challenge Corp. received criticism in a recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The GAO said the agency’s “pace of implementation has consistently lagged behind projections” and that it “needs to improve its financial management and project planning practices.”
In remarks after he was sworn in Tuesday, Yohannes said the agency “must show more results, be more innovative . . . and find more ways to involve and encourage the private sector.”
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
Daniel Yohannes
Age: 57
Title: Chief executive, Millennium Challenge Corp.
What he does: Oversees disbursement of federal foreign aid to projects that encourage economic growth
Where he’s been: Executive positions at Colorado National Bank and U.S. Bank; numerous civic appointments
What he’s saying: “We have a lot to accomplish in order to advance our government’s vision to reduce global poverty.”
