Three African countries, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Mozambique have called on the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) for collaboration and support for the development of cybersecurity in their respective countries.
The courtesy calls were by leading officials of the cybersecurity institutions of these countries on the side-lines of the Africa Union (AU) – Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE) Africa Cyber Experts Kick-Off Meeting in March 2022 in Accra and as part of improving bilateral relations with Ghana.
Within the last five years, Ghana has taken progressive steps towards the development of cybersecurity in the country, and these include the ratification of international treaties like the Convention on Cybercrime also known as the Budapest Convention and the African Union Convention on Cyber Security & Personal Data Protection also known as the Malabo convention.
Ghana has also ensured the institutionalisation of cybersecurity to foster regional cooperation through the adoption of the ECOWAS’ Regional Cybersecurity Cybercrime Strategy and the Regional Critical Infrastructure (CII) Protection Policy to strengthen Ghana’s international response to fighting cybercrime and improve cybersecurity.
Recognising these and other initiatives, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in its 2020 Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI), rated Ghana’s Cybersecurity development at 86.69%, major progress from previous ratings in 2017 which was 32.6%.
The ratings place Ghana 3rd on the African continent and 43rd globally; a development that has positioned Ghana as a leader in cybersecurity on the continent and hence a model for other African countries to learn from.
The Ag. Director-General of the CSA, Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, who likened the visits to Ghana’s post-independence era, indicated that Ghana’s modest but significant cybersecurity development will be meaningless if other African countries do not develop along the same line as nations are interconnected and cyber insecurity in one country has a real impact on another country.
The CSA, he said, is ready to collaborate and also learn from other African countries to develop critical areas such as awareness creation, home-grown capacity building and the protection of critical information infrastructure, among others.
According to the Ag Director-General, CSA’s mandate on international cooperation is provided under Section 83 of the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038). Dr Antwi-Boasiako added that cyber is a global commodity and thus cybercrime can only be combatted through effective international collaborations.
Mozambique
A Mozambiquan delegation of three from the National Information and Communications Technology Institute (INTIC) led by Prof. Lourino Alberto Chemane, Chairman of the Board of the National Information and Communication Technology; expressed their interest in learning from Ghana’s experience in cybersecurity development and in establishing a relationship with the CSA.
The delegation further requested the CSA to guide them through the required guidelines to enable them to ratify the Budapest Convention, which Ghana has already ratified, and to assist Mozambique to implement their Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy. The parties agreed to draft a Memorandum of Understanding for cybersecurity cooperation between the two countries to initiate collaborations.
