Back in August, President George Weah’s government hired three US lobbying and PR firms for a total of $660,000 per year: Washington lobbying firm Ice Miller Strategies, Carbon Thread Agency of Atlanta, and CNN analyst Bakari Sellers’ Strom Public Affairs in Columbia, South Carolina.
The three firms aim to help deepen relations with the US government and business community as the west African nation begins a year-long commemoration next month of the arrival of the first freed American slaves who would eventually found the country. They join KRL International, a consulting firm led by former Johnson Sirleaf campaign adviser Riva Levinson, which has had a $20,000-per-month contract with Weah’s government since January 2020.
Monrovia has begun to reap the fruits of its efforts, with President Joe Biden’s senior director for Africa, Dana Banks, leading a US delegation to Liberia on 14
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