Congo’s Lavish Spending at Davos WEF Conference Sparks Outrage Amid $1.3 Billion in USAID Cash

Government officials with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the world’s poorest nations, spent nearly half a million dollars on luxury hotels during the 2023 World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, according to a new report.While the U.S. Agency for International Development sent a staggering $1.3 billion in foreign aid to the DRC last year to fund humanitarian assistance, healthcare, and “peace and security” projects, Congolese officials were living it up at the five-star Hotel Quellenhof, according to a Swiss magazine, Die Weltwoche.For six nights, the Congo delegation, which technically included just six official members, booked “several dozen” hotel rooms, racking up a tab of more than $81,000 per night, the publication reported. The luxury haven boasts spa retreats and promises to “make holiday dreams come true,” according to its marketing material.Even Switzerland’s own delegation faced backlash for spending a comparably modest $128,000 on accommodation during the same event. But Congo, an impoverished nation operating on limited resources, decided to quadruple that figure.The de facto head of the Department Of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk, has a particular disdain for USAID, which until recently employed more than 10,000 federal employees, about two-thirds of them overseas. Last month, Mr. Musk called the agency “a radical-left political psy op” and a “crazy waste of money.”Mr. Musk has said he discussed USAID several times with President Trump, who “agreed that we should shut it down,” NBC News reports. For his part, Mr. Trump told reporters, “It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out.”Notices were sent out last month terminating more than 90 percent of USAID’s contracts and eliminating $60 billion in overall assistance around the world. The notices told most staffers they were on leave or being fired. Employees in the Washington, D.C., headquarters were given 15-minute time slots to clear out their desks while under the escort of federal officers.This isn’t the DRC’s first scandalous stay in Switzerland. Back in 2020, the country made headlines after booking 30 rooms for nearly $16,000 — and skipping out on $12,000 of that bill before making a quiet exit, stinging their Swiss hosts.Transparency International consistently ranks the Congo as one of the 30 most corrupt nations in the world, and the reports lend credence to the unflattering designation.For a country relying so heavily on America’s generosity, accountability appears to be in short supply. The $1.3 billion in U.S. aid last year — dispatched through USAID, the Departments of Agriculture, and the Department of State — was intended to help the DRC’s 100+ million people facing dire circumstances.

Congo’s Lavish Spending at Davos WEF Conference Sparks Outrage Amid $1.3 Billion in USAID Cash

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