DFC stands for the United States International Development Finance Corporation, which 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, across sectors including energy, healthcare, critical infrastructure, and technology. DFC provides financing for small businesses and women entrepreneurs in order to create jobs in emerging markets. DFCs 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. The DFC invests in sectors that include sanitation, infrastructure, healthcare, and food security, with stated priorities of womens empowerment, innovation, investment in West Africa and the Western Hemisphere, and climate change.