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FILE: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Rwandan President Paul Kagame
How AI, X and online platforms are shaping diplomatic relations in the region and globally
ANALYSIS | IAN KATUSIIME | An unexpected post on X from Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Jan. 30 in reaction to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during the recent flare-up in eastern DR Congo caught many people by surprise.
But the moment was a rare form of digital diplomacy in the East African region which is never short of fires to put out. A day before, Kenyan President William Ruto chaired a virtual summit for the East African Community to quell tensions between Rwanda and DRC arising from the fighting in the latter country.
On March 25, Ruto chaired another virtual summit this time involving another bloc, the South African Development Community (SADC). The second virtual in as many months resolved to expedite the peace process by appointing five former presidents to an expanded panel of facilitators.
They were former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria), Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Kgalema Motlanthe (South Africa), Catherine Samba Panza (Central African Republic) and Sahle-Work Zewde (Ethiopia). The fighting in eastern DRC has had a respite but digital diplomacy in the East African region is thriving through other frontiers.
Rwanda hosted the first Global AI Summit for Africa in Kigali in April. The summit attracted heads of state, diplomats, innovators, financiers, and AI developers whose work lays out immense potential for digital diplomacy.
One of the summit’s outcomes was the Africa Declaration on Artificial Intelligence which outlines a shared commitment to align national strategies with broader continental goals, protect data sovereignty, build digital infrastructure, and foster sustainable AI innovation.
Digital diplomacy has taken on a new significance since the UN Global Compact was adopted in September 2024 at the UN Summit of the Future in New York.
The Global Digital Compact has five key objectives; to close all digital divides and accelerate progress across the Sustainable Development Goals; expand inclusion and benefits from the digital economy for all; foster an open safe and secure space that protects and respects human rights; advance responsible equitable and interoperable data governance approaches and enhance international governance of AI for the benefit of humanity.
The foundation of the Global Digital Connect rests on international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, international human rights law and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“We remain committed to the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society reflected in the Geneva Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action and the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society,” the Compact states.
Since then, East African diplomats have been in overdrive to advance their countries’ goals at a time of unprecedented digital growth.
Rwanda leads the way
Rwanda has been intentional about championing digital diplomacy with X accounts of its foreign missions very active. A scan of the X accounts of East African embassies in major global capitals yields interesting insights into the digital realm of foreign policy.
Rwanda’s embassy accounts in Washington DC and London, show the country leading the way with 22,000 and 19,000 followers respectively.
Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania X embassy accounts in the above cities show them averaging between 4,000-5000 followers with Kenya only coming close with its UK High Commission which has 10,000 followers.
When it comes to digital engagement of the high missions in China, Tanzania is a surprising entry with 26,000 followers. All the other three countries have notably low engagement on their accounts in Beijing. The Rwandan embassy has 6000 followers, Kenya 2500, while Uganda has a measly 900.
China is a major trading partner of East Africa with huge foreign direct investments in infrastructure not to mention the loans it has doled out to these countries.
As part of its overall digital strategy, Rwanda has running partnerships with the Gates Foundation, a $200bn philanthropy chaired by Bill Gates; and the World Economic Forum, a Switzerland-based think tank that co-organised the Global AI summit in Kigali. The partnerships are aimed at boosting digital cooperation and ultimately enhancing Rwanda’s image as a tech leader.
In 2022, Rwanda had 52 of its diplomats and government officials take part in an online training on digital diplomacy.
The training was sponsored by Malta’s Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and supported by Rwanda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The exercise discussed the impact of digitalisation on diplomacy and analysed the main trends in geopolitics, major negotiations, and the use of practical tools.
I held two conversations this week with President Ramaphosa on the situation in Eastern DRC, including earlier today. What has been said about these conversations in the media by South African officials and President Ramaphosa himself contains a lot of distortion, deliberate…
— Paul Kagame (@PaulKagame) January 29, 2025
Diplo, a Swiss-Maltese NGO that specialises in capacity development in the field of internet governance and digital policy, organised the training. According to a statement from Diplo, the purpose of the training was to advance Rwanda’s interest in digital geopolitics and geoeconomics; negotiate new digital policy in areas such as cybersecurity and e-commerce in multilateral and bilateral negotiations and use new digital tools such as social media, online conferencing, data, and artificial intelligence.
Then Rwanda’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr Vincent Biruta highlighted the critical role of digitalisation in modern diplomacy and how the emergence of digital policy has increased the complexity of diplomacy at all levels.
Kenya following suit
Kenya is following closely on this digital diplomatic drive. On April 29, Philip Thigo, Kenya’s Special Tech Envoy briefed the permanent missions of Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia at the UN headquarters in a session on Artificial Intelligence and global governance. The session was convened by his American counterpart Amandeep S. Gill.
“As global geopolitics increasingly shape AI, Africa must act strategically. We must collaborate on building Digital Public Infrastructure, invest in shared energy and compute capacity, expand inclusive talent pipelines, and develop real-world AI use cases—all anchored in a South-South cooperation model that strengthens our collective resilience and innovation leadership,” Thigo posted on X.
President Ruto is very active on X and has used his account to promote Kenya’s agenda on the international scene as seen through important events including his recent visit to the U.S. It was the first for an African country in many years. Ruto is the East African leader with the highest number of X followers at 6.9m. He is followed by President Museveni of Uganda at 3.6m and President Kagame of Rwanda at 3.3m. President Samia Suluhu of Tanzania has 1.8m followers and Burundi’s Evariste Ndayishimye has only 241,000 followers. President Salva Kiir appears to have no presidential X account.
On May 8, President Ruto announced on his account that Kenya is “focused on deepening diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and delivering on our Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement to ensure we strengthen economic collaboration for the mutual benefit of our two nations.”
Ruto made the post during an event at State House Nairobi during a visit by Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates where memoranda of understanding were signed.
The agreements cover cooperation in military affairs, economic development, energy, transport, customs, the establishment of a joint business council, and railway development.
But Ruto who is in his first term had a baptism of fire when he posted a tweet in September 2022, saying Kenya would revoke its long-standing recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a partially recognised state in the western Maghreb.
The tweet provoked indignation and Ruto took it down immediately but the damage had been done. It was an example of how delicate digital diplomacy can be.
Lynace Makumbo Mwashighadi in her PhD thesis titled “Digital Diplomacy and Kenya’s Foreign Policy: A Study of the State House Twitter Diplomacy” at United States International Africa, stated that the account had emerged as a notable platform for digital diplomacy in Kenya. Mwashighadi stressed that the State House Twitter account was a window for understanding the country’s digital diplomacy strategy.
Mwashighadi wrote “The State House’s use of Twitter as a diplomatic tool proved highly effective in advancing a spectrum of foreign policy goals within Kenya’s established foreign policy framework, spanning the study period from 2018 to 2022. These objectives remained adaptable, guided by both domestic and foreign policy considerations relevant at any given juncture.”
The East African Community is toeing the line. On April 30, Veronica Nduva, the Secretary General of the EAC, a six-member bloc, held a meeting with Meta, the US tech giant that owns and operates social media sites Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads.
Nduva met Mercy Ndegwa, Meta’s Director of Public Policy for East Africa and the Horn of Africa. The discussion focused on deepening collaboration on regional digital transformation initiatives including enhancing regional digital policy frameworks, strengthening data infrastructure, supporting AI innovation and building capacity to maximise the use of META platforms and tools, to amplify the bloc’s activities.
Uganda has not been as proactive as its counterparts in advancing its diplomacy in the digital age. Several scandals in Uganda’s foreign missions have dominated online platforms and undermined possible foreign policy initiatives.
Margaret Kafeero, spokesperson for Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The Independent that the ministry and its foreign missions use X to report about bilateral and multilateral engagements Uganda is involved in. Kafeero says when an issue becomes controversial, the ministry turns to traditional diplomacy which tends to be a function of in-person engagement.
She, however, stressed that the foreign ministry is a projecting agency and not an implementer adding that digital policy emanates from the Ministry of ICT. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs facilitated meetings for the entry of Starlink, the American telecommunications provider, into Uganda.
Invest in digital infrastructure
Olubukola S. Adesina, a professor of political science at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria in a paper titled ‘Digital Diplomacy and African Countries’ argued that prioritizing investments in digital infrastructure by African governments and international organizations, including the expansion of broadband access, improving connectivity in remote areas, and strengthening cyber security frameworks are necessary steps towards effective digital diplomacy.
Adesina said it was essential to establish regional norms and regulations governing digital diplomacy. “This involves crafting agreements on cyber security, data protection, and ethical conduct in online diplomatic interactions. Collaboration by African countries can fortify diplomatic efforts, ensuring a unified approach to digital engagement while safeguarding against potential risks.”
She urged African governments to prioritize digital platforms as integral tools for cultural exchange and diplomatic outreach.
“Establishing and promoting official diplomatic channels on social media platforms and utilizing digital content can facilitate dialogue, promote cultural exchange, and attract investment and tourism opportunities,” She said.
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