The Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development Act of 2018, commonly the BUILD Act, was enacted as Division F of the Consolidated Appropriations Act and signed into law by President Donald Trump on 5 October 2018. Its central instrument is the creation of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which merged the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), established in 1971, with the Development Credit Authority of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The statute authorized the DFC with a substantially enlarged contingent-liability ceiling of $60 billion, more than double OPIC's prior $29 billion cap. Congress framed the law as a strategic response to the Belt and Road Initiative launched by the People's Republic of China in 2013, seeking to offer a market-driven, private-sector-led alternative to Chinese state lending in the developing world.
The DFC's expanded toolkit is the Act's defining feature. Unlike OPIC, which was confined largely to debt instruments, political-risk insurance, and loan guarantees, the DFC was empowered to make equity investments in private projects, provide technical assistance, and conduct feasibility studies through a development fund. The Act prioritizes lower- and lower-middle-income countries, requires that projects demonstrate developmental impact and adherence to environmental and labor standards, and mandates a clear additionality test so that financing does not crowd out private capital. The DFC's chief executive is a presidentially appointed officer confirmed by the Senate, and the corporation reports to and coordinates with the Department of State and USAID, locating it firmly within the architecture of U.S. economic statecraft.
The DFC became operational on 20 December 2019. Among named deployments, it has financed energy, telecommunications, and infrastructure projects under the Prosper Africa initiative and supported supply-chain and rare-earth ventures consistent with subsequent national-security priorities. It serves as a primary U.S. vehicle within the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) announced at the 2022 G7 Elbmau summit. As of 2026 the DFC's reauthorization has been a recurring legislative debate, with proposals to raise its liability ceiling further and to relax the upper-income-country restriction so it can compete with China in strategically important middle-income states; candidates should track whether reauthorization legislation has advanced through Congress.
For the FSOT and the U.S. Foreign Policy section, the BUILD Act is tested as the institutional centerpiece of contemporary American development finance and economic competition with China. Examiners commonly ask candidates to distinguish the DFC from its predecessor OPIC, to identify the equity-investment authority as the principal innovation, and to connect the law to great-power competition narratives and instruments such as the Belt and Road Initiative and PGII. Expect questions linking the Act to the broader toolkit of soft power and economic statecraft, and to the interagency relationship among the DFC, State, and USAID. Knowing the 2018 enactment date, the $60 billion ceiling, and the OPIC-DFC succession secures the typical factual recall items.
Example
In 2020, the newly operational U.S. DFC, created by the BUILD Act, committed financing to telecommunications and energy projects across sub-Saharan Africa under the Prosper Africa initiative to counter Chinese Belt and Road lending.
Frequently asked questions
It created the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which absorbed the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and USAID's Development Credit Authority. The DFC began operations on 20 December 2019.