{"id":58483,"date":"2024-05-19T11:10:38","date_gmt":"2024-05-19T11:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/african-countries-are-failing-to-make-a-dent-in-washingtons-diplomatic-scene"},"modified":"2024-05-19T12:02:46","modified_gmt":"2024-05-19T12:02:46","slug":"african-countries-are-failing-to-make-a-dent-in-washingtons-diplomatic-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/african-countries-are-failing-to-make-a-dent-in-washingtons-diplomatic-scene","title":{"rendered":"African Countries Are Failing to Make a Dent in Washington\u2019s Diplomatic Scene"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>The Washington calendar is filled with get-togethers for the diplomatic set, from embassy parties to book launches to private dinners with policymakers. Each gathering is a chance to network, sometimes with very powerful people, or at least glean gossip from their underlings.<\/b><\/p>\n

But in a city teeming with people determined to garner attention for their causes or constituencies, one group is largely absent from such conversations: African diplomats.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a phenomenon plenty of U.S. policymakers, foreign officials and even some African diplomats privately acknowledge. Many of them also argue it must change if African countries want the U.S. attention so many say they crave \u2014 not to mention more respect.<\/p>\n

A sign of the status quo: Even though Kenyan President William Ruto is being honored with a state visit to Washington next week, House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected requests that he be allowed to deliver a speech to a joint session of Congress.<\/p>\n

\u201cD.C. is a playing field. You\u2019ve got to be on the field playing the game. I don\u2019t see too many African diplomats on the field,\u201d one European diplomat told me.African diplomats say they\u2019d like to be more prominent in the U.S. capital, but that, above all, they lack the resources.<\/p>\n

Many of their embassies have just a handful of diplomats. Those diplomats often are underpaid; some take side jobs in Washington such as Uber or delivery drivers, or even at gas stations, according to a current and a former State Department official familiar with the issue.<\/p>\n

The limited resources affect an embassy\u2019s ability to function, including whether it can have a decent website, host events to draw in influential people or have a public affairs officer. (I reached out to nearly every African embassy and the African Union mission for this column. Just seven responded in any fashion. A few emails bounced.)<\/p>\n

\u201cSome embassies go months without getting their allowances because there\u2019s no funding from back home,\u201d one African diplomat said, noting that while some of the embassies host events, they do so \u201crarely.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re talking about a continent of 54 countries \u2014 more than a fourth of the world\u2019s nations. In theory, there should be strength in such a number, but in reality there\u2019s not much unity.<\/p>\n

Each African country has unique interests, and many are rivals. Northern African countries such as Egypt also tend to align more with the Middle East and Arab countries, putting them in a separate orbit than sub-Saharan African countries.<\/p>\n

Some of the countries have had recent coups or are otherwise not in great standing in D.C. Those diplomats can, however, be found attending a party at the Russian ambassador\u2019s house. (The food was great, the conversations surreal.)<\/p>\n

Rwanda, South Africa and Kenya were mentioned by Africa watchers as among the more robust diplomatic performers. But the majority of the embassies tend to stay under the radar.<\/p>\n

Elsie Kanza, Tanzania\u2019s ambassador since 2021, is considered one of the more dynamic African envoys in Washington, but she said funding, staffing and time can constrain her. There are fewer than 10 diplomats in her embassy, she told me, and she delegates when she can.<\/p>\n

She also said some African ambassadors prefer keeping their work behind the scenes. \u201cI have colleagues who have no interest in attending any events, but they\u2019re very impactful in terms of what it is they\u2019re delivering for their countries,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

At the same time, according to some current and former U.S. officials I spoke to, many African embassies stick so closely to diplomatic protocol that they hurt their interests in Washington. (Most of the people interviewed for this column were granted anonymity to be candid about a sensitive issue.)<\/p>\n

African diplomats may believe that the best way to reach the undersecretary of State is to contact the State Department\u2019s desk officer for their country. In reality, it\u2019s probably better to ask a think tanker you met at a party for the undersecretary\u2019s WhatsApp number.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you play the game by the rules, you\u2019re not really playing the game,\u201d said Cameron Hudson, a former National Security Council official who dealt with Africa.<\/p>\n

He and others who\u2019ve held similar roles noted that they often were the ones reaching out to African embassies instead of the other way around. \u201cHonestly, I heard from my counterparts in Western European embassies with 10 times the frequency that I heard from counterparts in African embassies,\u201d Hudson said.<\/p>\n

And while the African Union has a mission in Washington, it is far less prominent than, say, the European Union\u2019s delegation, and policymakers say it has little ability to rally the dozens of countries under its umbrella.<\/p>\n

There are embassies representing countries from other parts of the world, such as Latin America or parts of Asia, that also keep a low profile. (Has anyone seen the Turkmen ambassador lately?) But because the U.S. has stronger trade and military ties in countries in those regions, it\u2019s more likely to engage them in a variety of ways than African countries.<\/p>\n

Some African diplomats are severely restricted by orders from their bosses back home. Those bosses also can further disempower their diplomats by spending \u2014 often scarce \u2014 resources on expensive Washington lobbyists instead of strengthening their embassies.<\/p>\n

Sometimes the lobbyists are hired to carry out some of the shadier work \u2014 trying to place op-ed pieces whitewashing a dictator\u2019s crimes, or talking to lawmakers about lifting sanctions on that dictator. But often, they rake in dollars to do the basic work of diplomacy, such as arranging facetime with American officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cSave your money,\u201d one former U.S. diplomat who focused on Africa said. \u201cYou\u2019re signing contracts with people who you do not need in order to get meetings with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a bit of a chicken-and-egg dilemma in all of this.<\/p>\n

Despite Africa\u2019s potential \u2014 its demographics alone make it worth watching \u2014 it\u2019s just not high on Washington\u2019s priority list. President Joe Biden may not visit the continent during this term, although several of his top aides and Vice President Kamala Harris have made trips. Few members of Congress care about African issues. And that\u2019s even with U.S. concern about China and Russia\u2019s influence on the continent.<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s office assured me the decision on the Ruto speech was about scheduling restraints and stressed that the Kenyan president would get lots of facetime with lawmakers. But when I asked a senior African diplomat if he was upset that Ruto wouldn\u2019t get to speak to Congress, he said, glumly, that he never expected it would happen in the first place.<\/p>\n

At the moment in Africa, there is a vicious war in Sudan, with human rights activists warning of famine and genocide. But it\u2019s not getting nearly the attention from Washington as the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

As a result, African diplomats often wonder if it\u2019s worth the effort to get more attention from lawmakers or others beyond the core few they already know. I sometimes get the sense that they worry that if they host a gathering in Washington, no one will show up.<\/p>\n

At the same time, many feel shut out by Washington\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think D.C. is big? Actually, D.C. is very small. For you to actually make an impact your presence has to be known by all sectors,\u201d the senior African diplomat said. But African diplomats are \u201cnot included in the inner circles. They\u2019re not invited to critical meetings. They\u2019re sidelined at best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes the State Department engages directly with an African country\u2019s capital without looping in the embassy in Washington, the diplomat complained.<\/p>\n

Such lamentation is understandable, but to break through this cycle of low expectations will require more African diplomatic firepower in Washington.<\/p>\n

That could mean some entrepreneurial African diplomats need to start cold-calling a few Washington socialites about getting on their invite lists, persuading think-tankers to share their Rolodexes or building a tradition of hosting gatherings at their embassies.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s anything in shortage in Washington, it\u2019s attention, a former Asian diplomat said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to get out and get that attention,\u201d he said. \u201cIt takes hustle.\u201d<\/p>\n

politico<\/b><\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. The Washington calendar is filled with get-togethers for the diplomatic set, from embassy parties to book launches to private dinners with policymakers. Each gathering is a chance to network, sometimes with very powerful people, or at least glean gossip from their underlings. But in a city teeming with people determined to garner […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":58482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[2355,2361,260],"class_list":["post-58483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nAfrican Countries Are Failing to Make a Dent in Washington\u2019s Diplomatic Scene - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Washington calendar is filled with get-togethers for the diplomatic set, from embassy parties to book launches to ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/african-countries-are-failing-to-make-a-dent-in-washingtons-diplomatic-scene\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"African Countries Are Failing to Make a Dent in Washington\u2019s Diplomatic Scene\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Washington calendar is filled with get-togethers for the diplomatic set, from embassy parties to book launches to ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/african-countries-are-failing-to-make-a-dent-in-washingtons-diplomatic-scene\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-19T11:10:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-19T12:02:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2024\/05\/sm_1716107407.203269.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1290\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"860\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/african-countries-are-failing-to-make-a-dent-in-washingtons-diplomatic-scene#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/african-countries-are-failing-to-make-a-dent-in-washingtons-diplomatic-scene\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"African Countries Are Failing to Make a Dent in Washington\u2019s Diplomatic Scene\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-19T11:10:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-19T12:02:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/african-countries-are-failing-to-make-a-dent-in-washingtons-diplomatic-scene\"},\"wordCount\":1410,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/african-countries-are-failing-to-make-a-dent-in-washingtons-diplomatic-scene#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2024\/05\/sm_1716107407.203269.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/african-countries-are-failing-to-make-a-dent-in-washingtons-diplomatic-scene#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/african-countries-are-failing-to-make-a-dent-in-washingtons-diplomatic-scene\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/african-countries-are-failing-to-make-a-dent-in-washingtons-diplomatic-scene\",\"name\":\"African Countries Are Failing to Make a Dent in Washington\u2019s Diplomatic Scene - 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