Report on DFC’s Efforts to 

Advance the 2X Initiative 

September 2023 
 

 

Introduction 

This report is in response to the Congressional request laid out in H. Report 117-401, 

p.80 on DFC’s 2X Women’s Initiative. DFC is committed to addressing the unique 

challenges women face globally and to unlocking the multi-trillion-dollar opportunity their 

engagement in the economy represents. Through the 2X Women’s Initiative, 

established in 2018, DFC has catalyzed billions of dollars in investment in companies or 

projects that are owned by women, led by women, or provide a product or service that 

empowers women. Across Fiscal Years (FY) 2021 and 2022, 32 percent of DFC 

commitments by value met 2X criteria, demonstrating the Corporation’s dedication to 

bolstering women’s economic empowerment across its portfolio. 

DFC collaborates with peer development finance institutions (DFIs) around the world on 

women’s economic empowerment. DFC is one of the founding members of the 2X 

Challenge, launched as a partnership between DFIs, international financial institutions 

(IFIs) and the private sector at the 2018 G7 Summit.1

. DFC and DFI partners 

established five 2X Challenge criteria for meaningful gender lens investing. DFC 

qualifies projects as 2X if they meet one or more of the following criteria: 

1. Entrepreneurship: Projects qualify under entrepreneurship if women are the 

company founders or own a majority of the client company. 

2. Leadership: Projects qualify if women comprise at least 30% of senior 

management or at least 30% of boards or investment committees. 

3. Employment: Projects qualify if women comprise at least 30-50% of employees 

at the client company and the client implements a measure aimed at recruiting, 

retaining or advancing women in the workforce.2 

4. Consumption: Projects qualify if women comprise the majority of customers or if 

women’s needs and unique perspectives are incorporated in product or service 

design and provision. 

1 For more information on the 2X Challenge, please visit 2xchallenge.org. 

2 The threshold for qualification depends on the sector in which the DFC project would operate. Sectorspecific qualifications are as follows: 

 30%: Infrastructure, Power, Telecoms 

 40%: Financial Services, Manufacturing -- Heavy, Agribusiness & Food, Professional Services 

 50%: Healthcare, Education, Consumer Services, Manufacturing -- Light 

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5. Investments through Financial Intermediaries: Projects qualify if women comprise 

at least 30% of on-lending facilities or women-owned or women-led companies 

comprise at 30% of fund investments.3 

The 2X Challenge merged with GenderSmart in 2023 to become 2X Global, a 

membership organization of DFIs, public and private sector investors and non-profit 

institutions that provides a forum for collaborating on advancing gender lens investing 

and scaling up financing for women. To date, the partnerships have helped to catalyze 

billions in investments, far surpassing original targets. 

DFC 2X Transactions in FY 2021 and 2022 

Across FY 2021 and 2022 DFC committed more than $4.4 billion to 125 projects 

qualifying as “2X”, representing 50 percent of projects and 32 percent of dollars 

committed by DFC during this period. 

Time Period DFC Commitments Number 

of DFC 

Projects 

Number of 

2X Projects 

(% of DFC 

Projects) 

2X Dollars Committed 

(% of DFC Commitments) 

FY21 $4,935,040,576 122 60 

(49%) 

$2,232,750,046 

(45%) 

FY22 $8,957,412,499 127 65 

(51%) 

$2,192,397,999 

(24%) 

Total $13,892,453,075 249 125 

(50%) 

$4,425,148,044 

(32%) 

Transactions do not include technical assistance projects, of which DFC committed nine 

projects under the 2X portfolio across fiscal years 2021 and 2022. The number of 2X3 For more information on qualifying criteria, please visit the 2X Global website: 

https://www.2xglobal.org/what-we-do/#2xcriteria 

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designated technical assistance projects will continue to rise with the introduction of the 

2X Technical Assistance Facility described below. 

The amount committed to 2X projects declined from FY 2021 to FY 2022 because our 

portfolio had a number of high-value 2X investments in FY 2021 that drove up the total 

dollar value invested for that year. In FY 2022, we increased the number of 2X projects, 

but the average value was lower. 

Disaggregation by Transaction Type 

Transaction 

Type4 

Time 

Period 

DFC Commitments Number 

of DFC 

Projects 

Number of 2X 

Projects 

(% of DFC 

Projects) 

2X Dollars Committed 

(% of DFC Commitments) 

FY21 $3,163,783,893 57 38 

(67%) 

$1,884,739,547 

(60%) 

Direct 

Loan 

FY22 $4,405,550,000 60 32 

(53%) 

$1,554,620,000 

(35%) 

Total $7,569,333,893 117 70 

(60%) 

$3,439,359,547 

(45%) 

Unfunded 

FY21 $727,955,568 41 13 

(32%) 

$231,320,500 

(32%) 

Guaranty 

FY22 $989,790,500 41 19 

(46%) 

$325,528,000 

(33%) 

4

 This table does not include other transaction types, such as Technical Assistance projects, of which there were 9 

2X projects representing $0 in additional commitments. 

3 
 

Total $1,717,746,068 82 32 

(39%) 

$556,848,500 

(32%) 

Political 

Risk 

Insurance 

FY21 $819,140,000 12 1 

(8%) 

$3,690,000 

(0.5%) 

FY22 $3,018,822,000 7 1 

(14%) 

$9,750,000 

(0.3%) 

Total $3,837,962,000 19 2 

(11%) 

$13,440,000 

(0.4%) 

FY21 $224,161,116 12 8 

(67%) 

$112,999,999 

(50%) 

Equity 

FY22 $528,249,999 18 12 

(67%) 

$287,499,999 

(54%) 

Total $752,411,114 30 20 

(67%) 

$400,499,997 

(53%) 

Disaggregation by Sector 

A predominant share of 2X-designated projects and dollars committed are within the 

Finance and Insurance sector. DFC projects in the Accommodation and Food Services; 

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Educational Services; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services; Retail Trade and 

Wholesale Trade sectors were most likely to qualify as “2X”. 5 

Sector 

Number of Projects Dollars Committed 

2X DFC 

Portfolio 

Share 

2X 2X DFC Portfolio Share 2X 

Accommodation and 

Food Services 2 2 100% $12,290,000 $12,290,000 100% 

Administrative and 

Support and Waste 

Management and 

Remediation Services 0 0 - % $ - $ - - % 

Agriculture, Forestry, 

Fishing and Hunting 3 7 43% $33,750,000 $105,249,000 32% 

Construction 1 3 33% $8,000,000 $294,500,000 3% 

Educational Services 1 1 100% $37,048,855 $37,048,855 100% 

Finance and 

Insurance6 96 175 55% $3,972,259,192 $7,442,248,377 53% 

5 DFC defines sectors using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), which is the 

standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of 

collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy 

6 A huge percentage of the 2X Portfolio is invested in Financial Institutions. The vast majority of those 

investments are on-lended to women, women-owned and led small and medium-sized businesses across 

all sectors, including food and agriculture, health, consumer goods/ retail and other services. 

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Health Care and Social 

Assistance 6 16 38% $116,150,000 $1,459,500,000 8% 

Information 1 4 25% $14,000,000 $369,000,000 4% 

Manufacturing 4 12 33% $72,700,000 $1,034,464,846 7% 

Mining, Quarrying, and 

Oil and Gas Extraction 1 3 33% $30,000,000 $1,555,000,000 2% 

Other Services (except 

Public Administration) 0 1 0% $ - $10,000,000 0% 

Professional, Scientific, 

and Technical Services 2 2 100% $54,200,000 $54,200,000 100% 

Public Administration 0 2 - % $ - $675,000,000 - % 

Real Estate and Rental 

and Leasing 0 1 0% $ - $9,000,000 0% 

Retail Trade 3 3 100% $10,999,997 $10,999,997 100% 

Transportation and 

Warehousing 1 3 33% $4,000,000 $18,630,000 21% 

Utilities 2 12 17% $34,750,000 $780,322,000 4% 

Wholesale Trade 1 1 100% $10,000,000 $10,000,000 100% 

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Disaggregation by 2X Criteria 

There are multiple criteria under which a project may qualify as “2X”, and a single 

project may qualify under more than one criterion depending on the circumstances.7 On 

average, each 2X-designated project qualifies under roughly two criteria. The table 

below shows the disaggregation of 2X projects and dollars committed by criteria. 

Criteria Time 

Period 

Number of 2X 

Projects 

2X Dollars Committed 

Entrepreneurship FY21 14 $346,689,999 

FY22 12 $255,669,999 

Total 26 $602,359,997 

Leadership FY21 27 $1,033,940,692 

FY22 36 $1,081,169,999 

Total 63 $2,115,110,691 

Employment FY21 19 $645,397,691 

FY22 35 $1,025,749,999 

Total 54 $1,671,147,689 

Consumption FY21 15 $293,181,855 

7 For more information on qualifying criteria, please visit the 2X Global website: https://www.2xglobal.org/whatwe-do/#2xcriteria 

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FY22 15 $288,494,999 

Total 30 $581,676,854 

Investment through 

Financial 

FY21 36 $1,535,378,192 

Intermediaries 

FY22 36 $1,630,103,000 

Total 72 $3,165,481,192 

Note: Transactions must meet at least one of five criteria to qualify as 2X. The 

transactions covered in this report represent only the cohort that either met or exceeded 

2X thresholds. Please see the downloadable spreadsheet here, and in particular the 

note on application of the 2X indicator and qualifying criteria in the read me tab.

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Steps to Strengthen the 2X Initiative throughout DFC’s 

Portfolio 

DFC continues to build on the strong 2X foundation to date to ensure alignment with 

DFC’s strategic priorities and strengthen our emphasis on leveraging our investments 

for greater overall impact. This includes: 

 Better embedding inclusivity and 2X across DFC’s transaction lifecycle; 

 Defining what 2X qualification means to the Corporation and ensuring consistent 

guidance around the interpretation and application of 2X Criteria; 

 Strengthening our monitoring and reporting to ensure robust data collection and 

ability to “tell our story”; 

 Building staff capacity through trainings and 2X resources; and 

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 According to 2X guidance, projects may qualify for more than one criterion and, in the case of financial 

intermediaries, should qualify under more than one criterion to be designated as “2X”. Therefore, a single project 

may be represented more than once in Table 6. Figures should be compared against the total FY 2021 and 2022 DFC 

2X Portfolio of 129 projects and $4,337,001,893 committed. 

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 Launching a dedicated 2X Technical Assistance Facility to further support and 

strengthen DFC’s gender-smart investments in financial intermediaries. 

Furthermore, DFC will continue to leverage the broader gender-lens investing 

ecosystem and its strong partnerships to increase collaboration across the interagency 

as well as with sister DFIs and private sector investors. We coordinate closely across 

U.S. government efforts, guided by the US Strategy on Gender Equality and Equity and 

Women’s Economic Security Strategy. Our continued leadership in 2X Global allows us 

to contribute to and benefit from capacity strengthening initiatives, advance and refine 

global standards and understanding around gender-lens investing, drive investor 

commitment and unlock capital at scale in public and private markets – especially in 

newer sectors. 

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