The Role and Impact of Digital Diplomacy Practices in Promoting International Trade in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the role and impact of digital diplomacy practices in promoting Kenya's international trade between 2013 and 2022. Although digital diplomacy has become a defining feature of contemporary international relations, existing research has focused mainly on advanced democracies and major powers, leaving limited empirical understanding of how developing states, and Kenya in particular, use digital platforms to advance concrete trade outcomes such as export promotion, market access, and investment attraction. This study addressed that gap by examining how Kenya's Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs and related trade institutions deployed digital diplomacy tools in support of the country's trade agenda. A qualitative phenomenological design was adopted, drawing on key informant interviews with 30 purposively and snowball-sampled officials from the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, the Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry, and affiliated trade agencies. Data were analysed thematically using NVivo 12. Findings show that digital diplomacy strengthened Kenya's strategic communication, market access, export promotion, policy governance, and stakeholder engagement, with participants describing virtual trade missions, social media engagement, and online consultations as having expanded visibility and facilitated dialogue with investors and trading partners, although formal digital diplomacy policy remained underdeveloped before 2014. The study concludes that digital diplomacy has become an important, though still institutionally uneven, instrument for advancing Kenya's international trade objectives, underscoring the significance of formalising digital diplomacy governance to sustain these gains. It recommends that the Kenyan government institutionalise digital diplomacy policy and invest in the capacity of trade and diplomatic personnel.