Report: Advancing Cybersecurity with Africa

The Global Forum on Cyber Expertise Partnered with the African Union (AU) to enable AU Member states to better understand their current cyber capacities and to support the African nations in strengthening their cyber resilience.  

A study on cyber capacity in Africa was commissioned as part of the AU-GFCE collaboration. The study was carried out by KPMG Nigeria on behalf of the GFCE, which produced the following report: Advancing Cybersecurity with Africa. 

This report is aimed at presenting the current state of cyber capacities and gaps in Africa from the perspective of five African regions as well as developing an agenda with the needs and priorities for the different regions and the overall continent. The main findings of the study revealed that Northern Africa is “developing” in all domains, whilst Eastern Africa and Western Africa are each “developing” in two domains and Central Africa and Southern Africa are each “developing” in one domain. 

It is noteworthy that efforts have been made by African countries towards cyber capacity building. The level, however, differs by country and region. This variation can be explained by the differences in leadership commitment, cultural practices, knowledge and skills, resource availability, cooperation and intelligence sharing, among others, in relation to cybersecurity. The cyber security maturity gap in Africa, such as a lack of comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy, appropriate cybercrime laws and cybersecurity standards has created opportunities for threats to flourish in the continent with weak defence capabilities. 

The study identified 8 high priority cybersecurity challenges and areas for cyber capacity building opportunities for the African continent and per region to serve as an agenda for African stakeholders.