Assessing Government's use of Digital Diplomacy for Nation Branding in Ethiopia 2011- 2021

The purpose of the study was to Assessing government’s use of Digital diplomacy for nation branding in Ethiopia 2011-2021.The study assessed the roles of Digital diplomacy and current practice of the Ministry in promoting the country’s image to the international community. In the assessment, the researcher collected views of practitioners working in the Ministry and the overseas diplomatic missions of Ethiopia. The researcher employed qualitative methodology to get detail views and used purposive sampling technique to select key informants in the Ministry. For the conceptual and theoretical frameworks, the concepts of Digital diplomacy, national image building, agenda setting and framing theories were reviewed respectively. The digital diplomacy guides for a favorable image promotion of a nation in a way the promotional messages are framed and set as an agenda. Furthermore, the Foreign Policy and Ministry of Tourism Strategies and other related documents were reviewed for supporting the study as a baseline. The findings of the study revealed that a huge gap exists in using digital diplomacy for nation branding. Image building in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The findings of the study revealed that a huge gap exists in using digital diplomacy for national brand building in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Tourism. The Ministry and missions abroad use Digital diplomacy, rather practice the traditional and conventional way of promoting a country. Also, there is lack of coordination between or among stakeholders in the country in promoting the country’s image. The Ministry also skilled public diplomats and communication practitioners who are familiar to digital diplomacy though the Ministry has shown limited improvement in training diplomats, the rigid bureaucracy and unresponsive working systems have still become impediments that hinder the Ministry in using digital diplomacy communication for building the nation brand image of Ethiopia. Based on the findings, the Ministry has to replace the traditional practices for strategic digital diplomacy communication to build the country’s brand. In the contemporary world, the image of a nation highly matters for developing countries like Ethiopia in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), tourism, and establishing friendly relations with other sovereign countries. The study also suggests that the government has to establish an overriding institution which regulates the disintegrated promotional activities of various stakeholders in the country.