Lomé hosts Africa’s first cybersecurity summit

Lomé has played host to Africa’s first ever cybersecurity summit with several Africa officials and private industry leaders in attendance.

The event has been postponed because of the pandemic but went ahead this week in Togo’s city of Lomé. The event has been co-organised by the Togolese Republic and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and has seen many topical discussions including innovative approaches to meeting the challenges of cybersecurity and development as well as the funding and operations of cybersecurity strategies.

Ahead of the event, the Togolese Presidency said: “Discussions will also focus on the challenges of cybersecurity at a time when biometric identification is emerging in Africa, and on the sideline of the implementation of a public-private partnership and synergies between the CERT (editor’s note: Computer Emergency Response Team) and the SOC (editor’s note: operational security center based in Lome), as well as the identification and implementation of key success factors to strengthen regional collaboration in cybersecurity.”

Steered by the Togolese Ministry of Digital Economy and Technological Innovation, the summit also came at a time when the Russia-Ukraine conflict is reviving interest in cybersecurity issues, with a spike in cyberattacks observed on the sidelines of military confrontations, according to several international sources.

As a country, Togo’s cybersecurity efforts have previously included its National Cybersecurity Agency (ANCy), as well as a National Cybersecurity Incident Response Center (CERT) whose mission is to identify, analyse and mitigate cyber threats affecting the Togolese state, citizens, businesses, and organisations.

The country has also recently entered into a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with Poland’s Asseco, for ASSECO Data Systems, to set up Cyber Defense Africa. This is a joint venture that provides services to defend Togo’s cyberspace and helps government agencies and private companies in the sub-region make their infrastructure safer.

No Comments

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.