From the Field:
Providing Continued Support During DFC Standup

By Colin Shea | Devis


With the start of the 2020 fiscal year, the United States Federal government has geared up to implement the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development Act (BUILD Act). Passed by Congress in 2018, the U.S. government’s development finance tools were reorganized under the BUILD Act. A key component of law is was the creation of a new government agency, and legal entity, the Development Finance Corporation (DFC). A direct successor to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the new agency has subsumed both OPIC and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Development Credit Authority (DCA).

Devis has worked closely with USAID for over 20 years. This includes our support to USAID DCA, developing and maintaining the Credit Management System (CMS). This web application is utilized by DCA, now DFC, personnel to manage a loan portfolio of more than $5.5 billion in 80 countries. As part of the portfolio, DFC manages over 600 guarantees in which USAID has helped match 416 financial partners (lenders) with 382,000 borrowers. This includes 90,034 first time borrowers.

Loans managed by DCA are backed by the U.S. Treasury, and ultimately funded by the U.S. taxpayer. As such DCA must carefully ensure these loan guarantees meet the strictest criteria. The CMS application supports this objective by allowing DCA personnel to review, status, and track both guarantees and payments from initiation to closure.

With the passing of the BUILD Act, loans made by DCA are in the process of being transitioned from USAID to DFC control. In the short term, the changes have results in a series of updates to the reporting processes and controls by which DCA personnel manage and report on their portfolios. To meet the new needs, the Devis development team has been working hand-in-hand with the government application owner to map out updates to the CMS application based on the new reporting requirements that are now required under DFC.

Since the agency officially began operations, the application updates have been relatively minor. However, the CMS application exists as a standalone web application which does not interface with any other government applications or systems. As part of a larger push by DFC, Devis has begun reviewing opportunities to integrate the application with the existing DFC reporting software and accounting systems.

With this future software integration, both Devis and DFC recognize the potential for longer term benefits. At Devis, we see the prize in an opportunity to utilize data at scale. With the merger of the two agencies, the potential now exists to analyze development finance data and determine better ways to meet mission goals through data modelling and analysis. Toward this end, Devis recently completed a presentation on data analysis for the CMS system to the DFC. The proposal examined ways to reduce the agency’s overall risk profile, while also providing opportunities to more efficiently utilize the agency’s capital in pursuit of the mission objects.