The International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the lending and investment arm of the U.S. government and a key foreign policy tool, has abruptly terminated the director of its Independent Accountability Mechanism (IAM), which handles complaints about environmental and social harm. The unexpected move leaves no staff in the congressionally mandated IAM office.
Mehrdad Nazari was the IAM’s first director and had been in the position since 2024. He was informed by DFC lawyers in January that his term would not be extended past the end of February, though he was eligible for a five-year extension.
Under Nazari, the IAM assessed complaints against DFC funding that included ExxonMobil’s multibillion-dollar Rovuma natural gas project in Mozambique.
The DFC was created with bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress through 2018’s BUILD Act. Meant to counter the influence of Chinese state-issued debt, it invests in private sector projects that advance U.S. foreign policy goals, such as critical mineral extraction in the DRC. Its current portfolio is worth more than $40 billion, with an investment cap that was extended to $200 billion by Congress last year.
The IAM assesses environmental, labor and human rights complaints against DFC-funded projects.
In an interview with Mongabay, Nazari said senior lawyers at the DFC told him that his term would not be renewed because “every administration deserves to bring in their own guy.”
Stephanie Amoako, policy director at the Washington, D.C.-based Accountability Council, said she was concerned the decision is a sign the DFC is pulling back on oversight of the projects it funds.
“[Nazari] really ramped up the accountability mechanism’s work,” she told Mongabay. “It’s concerning that his term was not renewed, and it calls into question DFC’s commitment to having this independent governance tool.”
While most of the DFC’s staff are civil servants, its CEO is appointed by the U.S. president. Nazari told Mongabay that after Trump took office, his requests to meet with officials to discuss ongoing IAM investigations went unanswered.
“I have not received a single response to any of my emails from our political leadership over the past year,” he said.
Nazari said last year he was prevented from flying to Mozambique to assess the impact of a proposal to resettle 10,000 people as part of natural gas extraction in the conflict-ridden north. The IAM’s investigation into sexual assault allegations at Bridge schools in Kenya has been stalled for nearly a year.
Prior to the change in U.S. administrations, Nazari had two full-time staff members working with him, but as part of the 2025 purge of federal employees they elected to take voluntary buyouts.
A spokesperson for the DFC confirmed Nazari’s termination and said it was currently “working to recruit and support a successor.”
“I imagine my former position will be vacant for a considerable amount of time,” Nazari said.
Banner image: Current Development Finance Corporation CEO Ben Black is greeted by U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House. Image courtesy of DFC.
This story first appeared on Mongabay
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