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. "D.C.
is a playing field. You've got to be on the field playing the game. I don't see too many African diplomats on the field," one European diplomat told me.
Even though Kenyan President William Ruto is being feted at a state dinner in Washington next week, House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected requests that he be allowed to deliver a speech to a joint session of Congress. | Brian Inganga/AP African diplomats say they'd like to be more prominent in the U.S.
capital, but that, above all, they lack the resources. 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.
The limited resources affect an embassy's 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.) "Some embassies go months without getting their allowances because there's no funding from back home," one African diplomat.