5th-poorest nation splurges with USAID cash at pricey Davos gathering
Topline: The U.S. Agency for International Development sent $1.3 billion in foreign assistance to the Democratic Republic of the Congo last year, the world’s fifth-poorest country by GDP per capita.
The spending would be easier to stomach if the Congo was devoting all of its own resources toward caring for its people and still coming up short.
But new reporting from the Swiss magazine Die Weltwoche revealed that the country’s officials are splurging on their travel expenses. The Congo spent the equivalent of $488,000 on a six-night hotel stay during this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Key facts: The Congo delegation booked “several dozen” rooms at the five-star Hotel Quellenhof, even though there were only six official members in the country’s delegation to the Forum.
The tab works out to over $81,000 per night. The hotel describes itself as “a haven of peace where you can take time for yourself and your loved ones” and make “your holiday dreams come true.”
Switzerland’s delegation came under fire in 2023 for spending $128,000 on a hotel for the World Economic Forum, violating the country’s expense regulations, Die Weltwoche reported. The Congo, with much more limited resources, spent almost four times that amount.
The Congo is one of the 30 most corrupt countries in the world, according to Transparency International. At the World Economic Forum in 2020, the country booked 30 hotel rooms for almost $16,000, paid only $4,000, and then left Switzerland, Die Weltwoche reported.
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Background: USAID funding for the Congo last year included humanitarian assistance, healthcare, “peace and security” bills and more. The $1.3 billion was funded through the Department of Agriculture, Department of State and USAID, with all funded managed by USAID.
President Donald Trump temporarily halted all foreign funding and shut down USAID, requiring federal employees to return home from the Congo. The funding freeze is blocked by a federal judge as of Feb. 17.
Summary: Rigorous oversight of foreign funding is needed if and when USAID reopens. American taxpayers should not be assisting governments who spend their citizens’ money on luxury resorts.
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