The first summit on cybersecurity in Togo will bring together, from 23 to 24 March in the capital Lomé, governments of the continent, companies and civil society stakeholders who will reflect together on how to make this issue “a top priority for African states.
This event aims to push these different participants to “engage in a high-level dialogue” on the issue. The objective is “to establish a diagnosis without complacency of the phenomenon, to propose avenues of cooperation and coordination to meet the challenges and pressing issues facing all African countries in terms of cybersecurity,” according to a statement seen by APA on Thursday, noting that the summit will be chaired by Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé in the presence of the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Vera Songwe.
“Now that the regulatory frameworks have largely been put in place, we want to propose innovative ideas for operational cooperation to address threats in a concrete and decisive way. As the digital space does not take into account the borders of our states, we have no choice but to strengthen collaboration and international cooperation,” said Cina Lawson, Togo’s Minister of Digital Economy and Digital Transformation.
The organizers of the summit noted that for two decades, African countries have experienced a “profound transformation related to the rapid adoption of digital technologies. For them, “this digital transformation, whose acceleration is confirmed in recent years – especially following the pandemic COVID-19 – metamorphoses our societies as it revolutionizes all sectors of activity and reshapes the daily lives of people across the continent.
To this end, the massive use of digital technology “exposes African governments, businesses and citizens to increased cyber threats, all of which is a worrying situation for the flourishing digital economy in Africa, which is expected to generate US$180 billion by 2025, or 5. 02 percent of the continent’s GDP, and will reach US$712 billion in 2050, or 8.5 percent of the region’s GDP,” the document said.
Moreover, this situation presents “immense” challenges, ranging from data protection to the resilience of systems to attacks. They “therefore require the close collaboration of all stakeholders and the greatest mobilization at all levels: local, national, sub-regional, regional, continental and global,” adds the same source.
ODL/cgd/lb/abj/APA