GFCE and Microsoft announce an investment partnership in Cybersecurity Capacity Building in Africa
“The GFCE is thrilled to be able to count on Microsoft’s continuous support in building cyber capacity globally. As the GFCE seeks to increase its regional focus towards 2021, this vital partnership with Microsoft will enable us to strengthen, coordinate and make our efforts in Africa more efficient and effective.” – Chris Painter, President of the GFCE Foundation Board.
This partnership comes at a crucial moment for the GFCE as the year 2020 marks a milestone for celebrating its fifth anniversary. Throughout these years, the GFCE has met many achievements supporting cyber capacity building regionally and globally. As the GFCE looks ahead to 2021, it aims to become the coordinating platform on cyber capacity building and further strengthen the GFCE ecosystem by improving processes, expanding collaboration with stakeholders and establishing a truly global and regional presence on cyber capacity building efforts.
Africa has been an important region full of potential for the GFCE and its work on coordinating cyber capacity building, as various GFCE members and partners are involved in cyber capacity building projects in the region. In 2019 the GFCE Annual Meeting was hosted in Addis Ababa with the support of the African Union Commission (AUC), during which different workshops were organized on key cyber topics together with side-meetings, bringing together donors, implementers and regional organizations to discuss how to improve capacity building coordination in the African region.
The GFCE has also been involved in the African region through its Clearing House mechanism. This mechanism helps the GFCE community to support individual countries with their cyber capacity building efforts. In Africa, the GFCE Clearing House has been present through the Friends of The Gambia case and the Sierra Leone. The Gambia has been a requesting member for cyber capacity building efforts and the GFCE has provided opportunities for them to connect, network and contribute to cyber capacity building related to activities such as national strategy and policy development. Sierra Leone has also been involved for their national cyber security strategy.
The GFCE therefore hopes that this partnership is the beginning of improving regional coordination on cyber capacity building efforts and increasing collaboration by engaging stakeholders regionally.
