{"id":163702,"date":"2024-12-03T18:29:24","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T18:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/?p=163702"},"modified":"2025-08-11T13:31:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T13:31:21","slug":"everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-dfc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-dfc\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything You Need to Know about the DFC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreign assistance is an incredible US legacy, lifting millions of people out of poverty and giving them the resources they need to lead healthy, thriving lives \u2013 the lives ONE believes everyone, everywhere deserves a chance to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But foreign assistance isn\u2019t the only tool in America\u2019s arsenal to fight global extreme poverty. Private sector investment in developing countries can be a transformative influence, creating much needed economic growth and building on the support foreign assistance provides, eventually reducing the need for it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let\u2019s talk about a little federal agency called the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation<\/a> \u2013 or DFC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the DFC?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, Congress passed (with help from ONE activists!) The Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development Act (BUILD) Act. The BUILD Act created the DFC to help put private-sector dollars to work in developing countries building infrastructure, creating first-time access to electricity, starting businesses, creating jobs, and ultimately reducing the need for American foreign aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does it work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019re an American entrepreneur and you want to start a business in a developing country. You\u2019ll need a loan from a bank \u2014 but they might not be willing to take on such a risky investment. The DFC can help provide a loan so you can expand your business to a developing country, thus creating more jobs and helping more people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, but does it *actually* work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure does. Since it was created, the DFC has invested more than $10 billion in projects in African countries, alone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

** Micro enterprises, Major Impact: Supporting Small Farmers in Malawi **<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you know: the vast majority of Malawi\u2019s adult population work as smallholder farmers, growing bananas, maize, sweet potatoes and other staples that nourish these farmers and their communities. This is important: millions of Malawians experience food insecurity and more than a third live in poverty.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slight catch: A lot of these smallholder farms exist outside of the formal economy and struggle to secure loans to support their businesses or \u2013 like 1.1 million other micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Malawi \u2013 are restricted by limited credit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working with USAID, the DFC provided a $5 million dollar loan to NBS Bank<\/a>, an award-winning, primarily women-led bank, to increase its lending to MSMEs. Half of this commitment is specifically designated for agriculture, clean cooking, fisheries, and sustainable forestry.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Status update: Since the loan was approved, 114 small businesses have received a loan. 70% of those businesses are first-time recipients, and nearly 25% are owned by women.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, I think I get it. But what does this mean for us, here at home?  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At ONE, we\u2019re pretty big fans of foreign assistance (Maybe you\u2019ve heard?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the end goal of foreign assistance is to put itself out of a job. By encouraging private sector investment in developing countries \u2013 and by making it less risky to do so \u2013 we\u2019re hedging our bets, infusing the fight against poverty with billions of new dollars and creating healthy environments for new business and jobs to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our interconnected world, we know that what happens on one continent doesn\u2019t always stay there. Disease outbreaks, economic crises, and national security threats don\u2019t respect borders. Ensuring that people in other countries have access to the resources they need to live healthy lives and access economic opportunities isn\u2019t just a reflection of American values abroad, it\u2019s in our health and safety interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is this important *right now*?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BUILD Act which, you\u2019ll remember, created the DFC, must be reauthorized in 2025. During its original passage in 2018, ONE activists across the United States sent more than 32,000 emails and more than 9,000 letters to Congress asking them to pass this bill. It\u2019s now time to call on them again, to make sure they know their constituents care that this important program can continue its work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can I help?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need strong US-Africa partnership to create investments that will tap into the booming potential of Africa\u2019s youth, in turn creating growth, stability, and prosperity. If you agree, let your elected officials know! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Email Congress!<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Foreign assistance is an incredible US legacy, lifting millions of people out of poverty and giving them the resources they need to lead healthy, thriving lives \u2013 the lives ONE believes everyone, everywhere deserves a chance to live. But foreign assistance isn\u2019t the only tool in America\u2019s arsenal to fight global extreme poverty. Private sector […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"161599,161581,161397,161593,161496,161433","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[80,215,155,112,179,114],"topic":[45],"contributor":[502],"one_content_audience":[],"one_content_type":[],"one_content_tone":[],"class_list":["post-163702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-one","tag-africa","tag-agriculture","tag-aid","tag-development","tag-girls-and-women","tag-international-development","topic-aid-and-development","contributor-caroline-rourke"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEverything You Need to Know about the DFC - ONE.org US<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-dfc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Everything You Need to Know about the DFC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Foreign assistance is an incredible US legacy, lifting millions of people out of poverty and giving them the resources they need to lead healthy, thriving lives \u2013 the lives ONE believes everyone, everywhere deserves a chance to live. 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