Press spotlights launch of cyber threat attacks centre for banking sector, others

APA – Accra (Ghana)
The launch of the Financial Industry Command Security Operations Centre to protect the industry from cyber attacks by the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, yesterday is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Thursday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, yesterday launched the Financial Industry Command Security Operations Centre (FICSOC) to protect the industry from cyber attacks.
The objective of the FICSOC project initiated by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) as part of the requirements in the 2018 Cyber and Information Security Directive, and implemented by Virtual InfoSec Africa, local information communication technology company, is to promote a safer digital financial industry.
FICSOC is established as a threat intelligence sharing platform, fully funded by the BoG to coordinate cyber security efforts within the banking and financial industry.
Specifically, FICSOC is to support financial sector players to build cyber security resilience against cyber and information security threats.
Speaking at the launch of the FICSOC Centre, located at the BoG General Service Complex, at Spintex in Accra, the Vice President Bawumia said the facility was to enhance cyber resilience in the Ghanaian banking and financial industry.
He said the edifice and its infrastructure was one of the first funded and owned by a Central Bank in Africa, and that was a remarkable feat by the BoG, indicating that very soon other Central Banks in Africa would come to the BoG to understudy its approach to cyber security defence of the financial sector.
Dr Bawumia said it formed part of BoG’s efforts at strengthening the cybesecurity landscape to build a robust banking and financial industry and commended the BoG for establishing the FICSOC.
“What we are launching today is massive and ground-breaking and state-of-the –art infrastructure. The facility will become one of the top national security facilities in the country and contribute to improving cyber security issues among financial sector institutions,” Dr Bawumia stated.
The Governor of the BoG, Dr Ernest Addison, said the project was to create a cyber security environment for banks and financial institutions, adding that the facility would help combat the increasing cyber security threat and risks to the country.
He said all the 23 regulated banks had been connected with the FICSOC and through the facility BoG could send reports/alerts in the form of threat intelligence to the banks to improve their incident response mechanisms.
Dr Addison further said the project would help provide real-time visibility into cyber threats and attacks targeting the banking sector.
The newspaper says that Stakeholders in Ghana’s rice value chain were yesterday introduced to new Israeli agriculture technologies essential to improving the climate resilience of rice farming in Ghana for increased yields.
The breakfast meeting held in Accra enabled participants including rice farmers, agribusinesses, Ministry of Food and Agriculture officials and Israeli experts to exchange knowledge and experience.
Organised by the Israeli Economic and Trade Mission to Ghana, Israel Export Institute and Ghana Professionals Network, it was also meant to foster partnerships and business relations between Israeli and Ghanaian companies.
Held on the theme “Building Climate Resilience in rice production; Agritech Solutions from Israel” the featured Israeli companies were N-Drip, Salicrop, CropX, YieldsApp and Netafim, both virtually and in person.
The Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, Mrs Shlomit Sufa, said the forum was Israel’s way of helping Ghana to address issues of main concern to Ghana’s economy such as tackling climate change challenges and increasing food security.
He said the Israeli companies had topnotch technology and innovation especially designed for the needs of Africa’s climate, thereby contributing to better food security and obtaining the Sustainable Development Goals.
She said rice production was selected because it was a staple food in Ghana and the issue of increasing the local production of rice was a priority for Ghana and farmers across the country.
“This is where Israel can step in and support the effort in increasing and bettering yields of rice and help the rice sector to build more resilience to pesticides and diseases,” she said.
Mrs Sufa expressed the hope that the forum, which was monitored by many companies online, would lead to future collaboration between Ghanaian and Israeli businesses for mutual benefits.
The Head of Israeli Economic and Trade Mission, YanivTessel, said using innovative technologies to enhance climate resilience production could address multiple critical challenges and meet rice consumption needs.
He said although rice has been a crucial crop in West Africa for many centuries, and a pillar of regional food security, the growing demand for the grain had exceeded its production capacity due to population growth and an increased consumption, thereby resulting in greater reliance on imports from Asia.
The Graphic reports that the first tranche of $600 million out of the $3 billion IMF support has boosted Ghana’s gross international reserves pushing it to $5.7 billion as of May 19, 2023, the Governor of the Bank Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison, has stated.
The US$600 million is the equivalent to 2.6 months of import cover. The first tranche of the money hit the accounts of the BoG last week following the approval of Ghana’s Programme by the Executive Board of the Fund.
Addressing the media at the Monetary Policy Committee press conference, Dr Addison said although the money was meant for budget support, it would help the country in meeting its foreign liquidity needs, and help anchor both inflation and exchange rate outlook.
“We are going to credit the government with the cedi equivalent of $600 million to support the execution of the budget but obviously the BoG will benefit from the foreign exchange,” he stated.
The governor noted that gross International Reserves, excluding oil funds, encumbered and pledged assets, stood at $1.4 billion, while net international reserves as of March 2023 stood at $2.1 billion.
Dr Addison also pointed out that banks recorded total losses of GH¢8 billion in the 2022 financial year.
He said most banks reported significant losses on the back of the mark-to-market valuation losses on their respective holdings in Government of Ghana bonds following the implementation of the DDEP.
The newspaper says that Schizophrenia, a mental health disorder, is on the rise in Ghana, with 8,446 people presenting with the condition as of the end of March this year [2023].
From 19,856 persons who presented for help with the condition in 2020, the cases increased to 20,755 in 2021 and 24,790 in 2022.
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterised by persistent psychotic symptoms such as auditory and/or visual hallucinations, delusional thinking, dissociation from reality and disorganised thoughts and behaviour.
It usually begins to manifest when the patients are in their early 20s, although, in rare cases, symptoms can show in early childhood.
This disorder affects about 24 million people worldwide.
The Board Chairman of the Mental Health Authority, Estelle Appiah, who disclosed this at a news conference to mark World Schizophrenia Day on Wednesday, said the figures were records from the District Health Information Management Systems of the Ghana Health Service.
World Schizophrenia Awareness Day is commemorated every May 24.
It is a day dedicated to raising awareness of the mental illness that affects over 20 million people worldwide.
It is highly stigmatised since it is not talked about and lacks accurate representation in the media.
GIK/APA