The U.S International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) will use next week’s U.S.–Africa Energy Forum (USAEF) in Houston to court more American private capital for Africa’s energy and critical-minerals build-out, with Director Selam Demissie set to outline how the agency’s risk-mitigation tools can move viable projects to financial close in underfinanced markets.
Demissie’s appearance comes as sponsors across the continent confront the same bottleneck: sound projects that stall for lack of early-stage capital, credit enhancement and political-risk cover. Created by the BUILD Act, DFC is one of the few U.S. government instruments structured to “crowd in” private lenders through direct loans, guarantees, equity and political risk insurance—coverage that can reach up to $1 billion per project and shield investors from currency inconvertibility, expropriation and political violence.
DFC officials point to the Lobito Atlantic Railway as a flagship example of this approach. In December 2024 the agency announced a loan of up to $553 million to rehabilitate the 1,300-kilometre Angolan rail spine and modernize Lobito’s mineral port—an anchor investment meant to speed cobalt and copper from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to the Atlantic, while strengthening a more transparent, resilient supply chain for materials central to the energy transition. Project documents highlight expected gains in transit times, safety and job creation along the corridor.
In Mozambique, DFC has previously approved up to $1.5 billion in political risk insurance linked to the Rovuma LNG development—an illustration of how derisking can keep complex, capital-intensive projects moving in high-volatility environments. While broader LNG timelines in the country have faced headwinds from security setbacks and market uncertainty, DFC’s insurance capacity is structured to backstop lenders and contractors against the kinds of shocks that can derail multi-billion-dollar builds.
Organizers say the Houston forum on 6–7 August will convene ministries, national oil and gas companies, utilities, project developers and financiers to convert pipeline interest into bankable transactions—spanning gas processing, storage, transmission and port upgrades, as well as minerals-linked logistics and beneficiation. For African policymakers, the pitch is not only about mobilizing capital but steering it toward national priorities: expanding power access, accelerating clean-cooking solutions, stabilizing grids with gas alongside renewables, and capturing more value onshore through processing.
For U.S. investors, DFC’s suite of products is designed to bridge precisely where commercial appetite thins. Political risk insurance can unlock commercial bank participation in midstream and logistics; long-tenor loans can close viability gaps on grid and off-grid generation; and blended structures can support first-mover mineral processing plants that underpin battery and EV supply chains. DFC’s public guidance emphasizes coverage against contract abrogation, creeping expropriation and other sovereign-related risks that often tip otherwise strong African projects into “unbankable” territory.
The test now is whether messaging in Houston translates to term sheets and construction milestones. With the Lobito Corridor advancing and select LNG and gas-to-power schemes seeking fresh momentum, forum participants will look to DFC to pair policy signals with timely underwriting and disbursement. If that materializes, USAEF could mark a step-change in how American capital engages Africa’s energy and minerals push—less episodic and more programmatic, anchored by risk-tolerant finance and clearer project pipelines.
