Digital Diplomacy practice and challenge on the GERD.

Introduction

For decades, the African continent pursued Orthodox diplomacy, particularly in the horn of
Africa. Countries in the Horn of Africa region have fragile digitization strategies, weak policy
mechanisms, and a lack of leaders ‘commitments. This study mainly provides a detailed
investigation of the effectiveness of the implementation of digital diplomacy in Ethiopia. The
argument is that digital diplomacy has less matured and has been hampering the branding of the
Ethiopian initiative. After investigating the innovation trends, realities, and determining factors,
the paper realized that the digital diplomacy process and its impact on international
communications are regarded as opportunities to revitalize Ethiopia‘s efforts.

The government has been trying to transform digitalization processes and showed progressive
efforts to promote digital diplomacy as a positive tool for gaining a large international audience
and collaborating in modern political art. Recently digitization is seen as an essential system for
information communication and innovative realities in Ethiopia. On the other hand, the influence
of social media and cyberspace connectivity is increasing in Ethiopia. But Ethiopia has been
facing challenges in establishing effective and outstanding digitalization systems in its
diplomatic missions worldwide. Moreover, the digital processes have been less effective due to a
lack of expertise, weak commitments, and poor social media networking

ADDITIONAL MATRIAL AND CONCEPT

Despite great diplomatic efforts, progress on reaching a comprehensive agreement between

Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has remained
elusive. While these states have long resorted to legal and political means to protect their share
of the Nile, escalation in language from Egypt earlier this year raised the specter of military
confrontation. Though direct military engagement remains unlikely, the battle over the dam is
increasingly playing out in the global theater of public opinion: social media.

In the spring of 2021, Facebook identified several digital campaigns on their platform involving
Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan related to the GERD dispute. State-backed entities in Egypt and
Ethiopia were accused of sponsoring coordinated, inauthentic influence campaigns across
multiple Facebook products, including Instagram and WhatsApp. These operations used a
combination of fake and duplicate accounts — some of which were automated — to manipulate
and influence the online public debate about the GERD.
This new evidence reveals how these states have used novel digital tactics to surreptitiously
bolster their public rhetorical strategies. Paralleling official negotiations, diplomatic efforts, and
public maneuvering, the cyber arena — in the form of online influence campaigns and digital
attacks — has emerged as important site of conflict and competition in the GERD dispute.

Egypt and Ethiopia used online influence campaigns to complement traditional public diplomacy
by targeting domestic and international audiences to shore up support, and by reframing the
battle as one of nationalist pride on each side. The tactics and techniques used by these states
differ in significant ways, reflecting their opposing strategic interests and negotiating positions.
While as yet Sudan has not been accused of sponsoring a digital influence network related to the
GERD, the country is nevertheless intimately linked with these disclosures.

Egyptian campaign targets Ethiopia, Sudan

In March 2021, Face book disclosed that it had identified and removed a cluster of accounts and
pages across its platform for “violating its policy of foreign interference on behalf of a foreign
entity,” and concluded the campaign was likely directed by Egyptian state-backed entities. Face
book claimed it had found links between the campaign and Bee Interactive, a marketing firm
based out of Egypt. Researchers have previously documented Egypt outsourcing its information
operations to third-party digital marketing firms. Seventeen Face book accounts, six pages, and
three Instagram accounts were removed in connection with the network.

The campaign was especially active during the summer of 2020, coinciding with the crucial
period of the first filling of the dam, which was vehemently opposed by Egypt. At this time,
Egypt engaged in a flurry of diplomatic activity: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry urged a U.N.
Security Council resolution on the GERD and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were
pressured to suspend their sprawling investments in Ethiopia to force the country to the
negotiating table. Despite Egypt’s vocal opposition and diplomatic pressure, Ethiopia went ahead
with the first filling.

Complementing traditional diplomacy, the network that was active during this period aimed to
influence Ethiopian public opinion on the dam. Accounts and pages posed as authentic Ethiopian
entities, writing in Amharic about news and political events in Ethiopia. Most importantly,
content included positive opinions about the Egyptian government. One post from a page called
“Free Ethiopia” included a picture of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi with the caption:
“Egypt does not want to impede the development of the Ethiopian people. Egypt and Ethiopia
are capable of negotiating, discussion and living in peace to resolve their differences.” The post
appeared on June 20, during a particularly intensive period of Egyptian public and private
diplomacy on the GERD.