United States International Development Finance Corporation

The United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is a development finance institution and agency of the United States federal government. DFC invests in development projects primarily in lower and middle-income countries. First authorized on 5 October 2018 by the BUILD Act, the independent agency was formed on 20 December 2019 by merging the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) with the Development Credit Authority (DCA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as with several other smaller offices and funds. DFC's lending capacity is used to provide loans, loan guarantees, direct equity investments, and political risk insurance for private-sector led development projects, feasibility studies, and technical assistance. DFC invests across several sectors including energy, healthcare, critical infrastructure, and technology, with stated priorities of women's empowerment, innovation, investment in West Africa and the Western Hemisphere, and climate change. As with the OPIC, the DFC is predominately self-funded through the fees and interest collected during its regular operations. History U.S. development finance efforts were consolidated under the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) in 1969 by President Richard Nixon, transferring responsibility from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The goal was to promote a more business-like management of development finance policy. In the 2010s, the Obama administration came to support a further consolidation of U.S. development finance in light of the increasing Chinese investment in the developing world (particularly through the Belt and Road Initiative). The Trump administration originally opposed OPIC, and its proposed 2018 budget had called for the elimination of OPIC altogether, but advocacy by some administration officials, senators, and others convinced the White House to support the consolidation of OPIC and development finance efforts in line with the President's policy priorities. Relevant legislation — the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act — was introduced in Congress to establish the DFC shortly thereafter.