From Digital Reach to Trade Conversion: Institutionalizing Kenya's Digital Diplomacy, 2013-2022

This article examines how Kenya used digital diplomacy to advance international trade between 2013 and 2022 and why expanded online reach did not always translate into measurable trade value. Drawing on 25 semi-structured interviews with officials and practitioners across foreign affairs, trade institutions, business organisations and diplomatic missions, the study applies inductive thematic analysis to Kenya's digital diplomatic practice. The findings show that virtual missions, social media, webinars and online trade events widened market access, lowered engagement costs and improved national visibility. However, implementation remained fragmented, skills were uneven, and institutions rarely connected digital engagement metrics to exports, investment leads or completed transactions. The article develops the concept of the reach-conversion gap: the institutional distance between online diplomatic visibility and demonstrable economic outcomes. It argues that African digital diplomacy should be assessed not by platform activity alone, but by strategic coherence, professional capability, credible communication and conversion into trade outcomes.