Some three African countries, including 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.
A delegation from each of the countries was in Ghana to collaborate with the officials of the Cyber Security Authority on the side-lines of the Africa Union (AU)-Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE) Africa Cyber Experts Kick-Off Meeting held in March 2022 in Accra.
The Acting Director-General of the CSA, Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, addressing the delegation, stated that Ghana’s modest but significant cybersecurity development would be meaningless if other African countries did not develop along the same line as nations that are interconnected.
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.
He explained that CSA’s mandate on international cooperation is provided for under Section 83 of the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038). This affirms that cyber is a global commodity and cybercrime can only be combatted through effective international collaborations.
Dr. Antwi-Boasiako expressed appreciation to the delegations for their visit, and assured them of CSA’s commitment to collaborating and achieving a truly secured and resilient digital Africa.
Delegations
A three-member Mozambiquan delegation, led by the National Information and Communications Technology Institute (INTIC), Prof. Lourino Alberto Chemane, expressed their country’s interest in learning from Ghana’s experience in cybersecurity development and in establishing a relationship with the Cyber Security Authority (CSA).
The delegation further requested the CSA to guide and coach 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 two countries consequently agreed to draft a Memorandum of Understanding for cybersecurity cooperation to initiate collaborations.
Another three-member delegation from The Gambia, led by the Managing Director of the Gambia Telecommunications Company Limited, Lamin A. Tunkara, indicated that they were “on a mission to acquire knowledge and to seek partnerships with the CSA”.
The Gambian delegation was optimistic and confident in Ghana’s efforts in developing cybersecurity, and stated their interest to have some cyber experts from Ghana to visit them in The Gambia and to train their personnel.
MoU
The delegation further requested the assistance of Ghana to put in place strategies that will help them to protect their critical information infrastructure. Both parties agreed on the need for Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be signed to facilitate the engagements.
The Deputy Director-General of the National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM) of Sierra Leone, Amara Brewah, commended Ghana for its role as a leader in cybersecurity development on the continent, and said that was the spirit behind the visit and collaborative effort, pinpointing his country’s interests, particularly in Protection of Critical Information Infrastructure (CII), Child Online Protection (COP), and the “Safer Digital Ghana” awareness creation programme.
In order to formalise the discussions, the CSA and the Sierra Leonean delegation agreed to facilitate the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries.
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