The Foreign Service Journal, June 2019

AFSA NEWS The BUILD Act: AFSA Hosts Discussion on New Economic Diplomacy Tool AFSA President Ambassador Barbara Stephenson wel- comed Representative Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) and develop- ment finance experts from the Foreign Commercial Service, the State Depart- ment and USAID to AFSA headquarters on April 3 for a discussion of the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act. Signed into law by the president on Oct. 5, 2018, the BUILD Act will modernize U.S. foreign assistance programs, replace the Overseas Private Investment Corporation with the U.S. Development Finance Corporation and put U.S. private-sector dollars to work in developing countries. The newly structured USDFC is expected to come on line by Oct. 1, making loans, grants and other guar- antees available and reduc- ing risks to U.S. businesses financing overseas projects. Amb. Stephenson called the BUILD Act “one of the most exciting new tools to come around in a while.” Underscoring AFSA’s initia- tive to rebuild U.S. economic diplomacy capacity in the field, she noted that the current era of great power competition, with China in particular, has created a new geostrategic environment for U.S. diplomats, most of whom came of age during the post–Cold War period when the United States exercised preeminence as the sole superpower. Rep. Yoho, a principal author of the legislation, emphasized that BUILD has received strong bipartisan, bicameral support on Capitol Hill. It significantly reforms U.S. development assistance, offering alternatives to com- peting development finance models. Rep. Yoho said the legisla- tion grew out of his convic- tion that the United States needed a way to “compete with China in their Belt and Road Initiative,” in particular a positive way to counter their “predatory lending.” Senior FCS FSO and AFSA Vice President Dan Crocker recounted that in September 2018 alone, China announced $60 billion in projects in Africa. He called the asymme- try between Chinese and U.S. engagement and diplomatic staffing in Africa “striking.” The Foreign Commercial Service has a presence in only 11 of the 54 countries in Africa, and U.S. diplomats there are outnumbered by China, which has in some cases nine or 10 officers to every one U.S. officer. Laird Treiber, a senior State Department economic officer currently advising the president of the Corporate Council on Africa, warned that while U.S. companies have not been looking strate- gically at Africa, our competi- tors have. In coming decades, Treiber said, two-thirds of the world’s net population growth will be in sub-Saharan Africa. Enthusiasm about the BUILD Act among members of the Corporate Council on Africa, he noted, is “sky high.” Karl Fickenscher, USAID’s deputy assistant administra- tor for economic growth, education and environment, acknowledged criticisms about “stovepipes of excel- lence”—where foreign affairs agencies pursue related policy objectives without coordinating—but said the BUILD Act will establish cross-training for U.S. govern- ment personnel from across agencies and better integrate them into foreign policy and development. Taking advantage of the new BUILD Act provisions will require the continued and even expanded presence of American diplomats in Africa. Citing a hypothetical project in Africa, Dan Crocker noted that with the new USDFC, we will need “boots on the ground” throughout the process of getting American companies to launch projects in developing countries. Amb. Stephenson focused on another element of U.S. global leadership in addi- tion to the benefits to U.S. Representative Ted Yoho and Ambassador Barbara Stephenson talk about their Florida roots. Panelists listen as Rep. Ted Yoho discusses an article he wrote for a recent issue of The Foreign Service Journal. AFSA/DONNAGORMAN AFSA/DONNAGORMAN 46 JUNE 2019 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Continued on page 47