African Countries Are Failing to Make a Dent in Washington’s Diplomatic Scene

SS: This is an article about how African diplomats are largely absent from the scene and have not been meeting or networking with policy makers and other diplomats in Washington:

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 attention for their causes or constituencies, one group is largely absent from such conversations: African diplomats..

This is what African diplomats have to say:

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.