Sixteen private firms donated $56,800 to send District leaders and support staff on a recent 11-day trade mission to Africa, a trip in which no government funds were expended but that Mayor Anthony Williams said Wednesday will have tangible results.
The mission to Ghana and Senegal, which ended Monday, produced two sister-city agreements — with Dakar, Senegal, and Accra, Ghana — and opened up discussions on tourism, culture, government practices, trade and investment, education, information technology, and bridging the digital divide, Williams said during his weekly press briefing.
All told, the privately funded journey carried a $155,000 price tag, including $100,000 for the nongovernment travelers, according to documents provided by Williams’ office.
Particularly in the areas of tourism and capital investment, the mayor said District residents will one day see that the mission was a success. Comparing the trip to his 2004 travels to China, he said there are hundreds of millions of dollars and “tremendous potential benefits” to be realized from forging “deepening and rewarding relationships” with African nations.
“There’s also a tremendously important spiritual relationship … between our city and a city like Accra and Dakar, where people were very proud of the fact that the capital of the world happens to have a mayor who is African-American,” Williams said.
Local watchdog DC Watch has been critical of the mission, dubbing it a junket for private corporations to get access to the mayor — though most of the participants have active business in Africa.
Of the private travelers, ACS State & Local Solutions, the company that operates the District’s red-light and speed cameras, was the most generous sponsor, donating $10,600 to finance the government’s party.
Lobbying firm The Carmen Group donated $8,000. The Washington Performing Arts Center tossed in $4,000, as did the Washington Convention and Tourism Corp. MedStar Health was a $4,700 sponsor.
