The compact lifecycle: from signing to closeout
A compact is not an open-ended program. It has a beginning, a middle, and a hard end. Understanding the shape of the five-year journey — what happens in each phase, what the pressure points are, and what “delivery” actually means — is essential context for every role at the MCA.
This unit walks through the full compact lifecycle and explains why the clock matters as much as the work. It takes about 12 minutes.
Describe the five phases of a compact, explain what changes in each phase, and articulate what “delivery” means beyond physical construction — including disbursements, compliance, and benefit realization.
Time is the one resource you cannot recover
Most organizations can request an extension when things run late. The MCA cannot. The compact has a legally fixed end date — typically five years from Entry into Force. When that date arrives, the compact closes. Undisbursed funds are returned. Incomplete works become a permanent record.
Every day counts from Entry into Force
The clock starts on Entry into Force (EIF) — the date the compact becomes legally effective. From that moment, every procurement delay, every stalled approval, every missed handoff is time that cannot be recovered.
It is common for staff in support roles — finance, communications, administration — to feel insulated from the schedule. They are not. Every function either enables timely delivery or creates friction that slows it. The clock runs for everyone.
What happens across the compact lifecycle
A compact moves through five distinct phases. Each has different priorities, different risks, and different demands on MCA staff. Select each phase below to explore what it involves.
What does “delivery” actually mean?
Delivery is not only construction. A compact may include both infrastructure projects governed by FIDIC contracts and Policy, Institutional, and Regulatory (PIR) projects — each producing very different types of outputs, all of which require active management and count toward compact success.
Outputs are defined in the project logic — the formal results framework that links compact activities to the growth outcomes MCC is investing in. Outputs are not only physical.
Compliance — environmental, social, procurement, and fiduciary — is a fifth obligation that cuts across all output types and all phases. A compact that delivers its outputs but fails on compliance is not a successful compact.
The phases where compacts most commonly slip
Every compact experiences pressure. But there are predictable points in the lifecycle where delivery risk concentrates. Knowing where they are — and what drives them — is the first step to navigating them well.
- !Late start-up. Slow staffing, delayed establishment of systems, and deferred procurement planning in year one create a deficit that almost never gets recovered. The first six months set the trajectory for the entire compact.
- !Procurement bottlenecks. Understaffed procurement teams, slow technical input from project staff, and MCC no-objection delays stack up. A procurement package that should take six months can take eighteen. That time comes directly off implementation.
- !Contract administration and management gaps. Once contractors are on site, weak contract administration by Procurement and poor contract management by Project Teams — unrecorded instructions, late payment certification, unresolved variations — leads to disputed claims and cost and time overruns. The two functions must work in close coordination.
- !Closeout compression. Everything that was deferred — documentation, audits, final payments, asset transfers — arrives at once in the final year. MCAs that plan for closeout from year one survive it. Those that don’t are overwhelmed by it.
Every role has a different profile across the five years
The lifecycle does not affect all roles equally at all times — and the demands vary further depending on whether your compact includes FIDIC construction projects, PIR projects, or both. Understanding your role’s profile across the full range of compact activity helps you anticipate — not just react.
At any point in the compact, ask: what phase are we in, what does this phase demand across both our construction and PIR workstreams, and is my current work aligned with those demands? If the answer is no, that’s worth a conversation with your supervisor.
- ✓Leadership and CEO — accountable across all phases and all project types; must ensure both FIDIC contract administration and management and PIR deliverable oversight receive equal governance attention
- ✓Procurement — front-loaded in years one and two for both construction bidding and consulting service contracts; remains active throughout as modifications, extensions, and re-procurements arise across both workstreams
- ✓Projects / Infrastructure — manages FIDIC construction contracts during implementation (technical oversight, payment certification, output verification) and oversees consultant deliverables; Procurement administers the contract instruments while Project Teams manage delivery
- ✓Finance and M&E — steady obligation from EIF to closeout regardless of project type; payment processes, reporting cycles, and results data collection run in parallel across construction and PIR activities
- ✓Environmental & Social Performance — primarily triggered by FIDIC construction projects, but PIR projects involving land, agriculture, or community-facing reforms may also carry ESP obligations that must be identified early and managed throughout
What you’ve covered in this unit
- ✓The compact runs for a fixed five years from Entry into Force — the clock cannot be stopped or extended
- ✓There are five phases: start-up, procurement, implementation, completion, and closeout — each with distinct demands on MCA staff across both FIDIC construction and PIR workstreams
- ✓Outputs are defined in the project logic and are not only physical — FIDIC construction projects produce infrastructure assets, while PIR projects produce policy reforms, institutional changes, and regulatory improvements
- ✓Delivery requires outputs, disbursements, compliance, and benefit realization — all must be achieved across every project type in the compact
- ✓Risk concentrates at predictable points — late start-up, procurement bottlenecks, contract administration and management gaps in both construction and PIR, and closeout compression
- ✓Every role has a lifecycle profile that spans both workstreams — knowing yours helps you stay ahead of the curve, not behind it
The delivery chain — how outputs move through the MCA, what a handoff looks like, and why every link in the chain matters to the speed and quality of compact delivery.