Five takeaways from DFC’s first five years

Five years ago, the United States entered a new era of global engagement with the launch of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), a modern development finance institution built to harness the resources of the private sector to lift people out of poverty and drive economic growth, and prosperity around the world.

DFC was created through the BUILD Act and has built on the legacy of its predecessors — the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and USAID’s Development Credit Authority. Launched in late 2019 with expanded resources, new investment tools, and other flexibilities, DFC swiftly became an efficient and effective mechanism for mobilizing private sector investment across the developing world. DFC covers its administrative costs through its own revenues, demonstrating efficient stewardship of taxpayer resources while delivering impactful results for U.S. interests abroad.

DFC marks its first five years with a strong track record of success across multiple metrics, from the impact it has achieved to the growing portfolio it has built. Five takeaways from our first five years:

1. Investing in development advances U.S. national security. DFC works to mobilize private investment where American values and American interests intersect. Many recent DFC transactions are helping to strengthen global supply chains of energy and food, as well as well as the critical minerals that are essential to the energy, technology, and national security sectors. These investments in the world’s low-income and fragile states create jobs and opportunities, foster stability, and help ensure a prompt response to health emergencies and other crises before they spread beyond borders.
2. The developing world needs more investment. A key driver of DFC’s creation was the recognition that the United States needed to do more to mobilize private capital in the developing world. In addition to the longstanding challenges of poverty and food insecurity, the world today faces a multitrillion-dollar infrastructure gap and needs more modern technology to support growing trade and connectivity and increasingly urban populations. The cost of addressing these challenges far exceeds the resources of governments. The BUILD Act granted DFC an investment capacity of $60 billion, more than double that of OPIC. Five years later, DFC has already built its exposure to almost $50 billion, including more than $12 billion in new commitments in Fiscal Year 2024 alone. This rapid growth underscores the need for DFC’s reauthorization to help build an even more effective development institution.
3. DFC’s investments are improving lives. DFC is committed to supporting investments that achieve a long-term benefit, and to closely monitoring the impact achieved. Data collected over the past five years illustrates how these investments have benefited more than 200 million individuals and small businesses and helped build more secure and resilient economies. This includes supporting more than 1.7 million smallholder farmers, providing healthcare to more than 44 million patients, transporting more than 64 million passengers through roadways, airports, and railways, and supporting more than 6 million of the small businesses that are so critical to fostering economic growth and stability in developing countries.
4. Development finance is nimble and responsive to market needs. DFC launched in late 2019, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic appeared, and the young agency moved swiftly to partner with multiple private businesses that were expanding vaccine manufacturing capacity in Africa and India. DFC’s response to the war in Ukraine was equally swift with multiple investments to help the country’s small businesses continue to provide vital goods and services. DFC provides financing in amounts as small as $1 million and as large as $1 billion to a range of projects, from supporting refugee populations to building modern infrastructure.
5. DFC is distinguished by high standards. DFC is committed to transparency, respect, fairness, and high standards regarding worker rights and the environment. DFC’s model of partnering with private sector investors helps avoid saddling host countries with excessive levels of debt and produces long-term benefits. We understand that supporting a robust private sector is the best way to introduce innovative solutions and stimulate economic growth. By adhering to high standards, DFC raises the bar for development around the world.