Lilongwe, Malawi, 20 July 2022 (ECA) - Cybersecurity emerged as one of the top agenda items during the eleventh annual meeting of the Africa Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF). This year’s AfIGF took place 19 – 22 July and was hosted by the Government of Malawi on the theme Digital Inclusion and Trust in Africa. Experts emphasized the need to synergize an intercontinental cyber norm that enables African member states to take proactive measures in countering cyber threats.
The workshop gathered a technical group of ICT officials, cybersecurity experts, legal experts, parliamentarians, and academia to review preconditions, standards, and best practices for ensuring an appropriate Cybersecurity Model Law for the region. The draft guidelines suggested some of the key areas that policymakers and legal experts could potentially explore in suggesting member states implement the Lomé Declaration through national legislative processes. It is to be recalled that heads and representatives of African governments, in cooperation with the ECA, signed the Lomé Declaration on Cybersecurity and Fight Against Cybercrime earlier this year in March.
Speaking at the opening remarks, Jean-Paul, Director for ECA’s Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources Division (TCND), recalled Africa’s ongoing effort to realize the African Digital Transformation Strategy pointing out “ineffectively drafted model laws could cause countries to enact cybercrime legislation with gaping holes, hence the importance of drafting appropriate model laws on cybersecurity legislation.”
He further noted that “while the Guidelines does not limit the operation of any national or regional law that expressly regulates cybersecurity and prohibits any activity regarded as cybercriminal offenses in any jurisdiction, the ECA Guidelines provides a set of guiding principles for African governments, lawmakers and policymakers to consider as they set out to promulgate legislation for ensuring cybersecurity.”
Acknowledging the challenges of adoption barriers and local legislation processes, experts discussed their respective national scenarios adding feedback to the cybersecurity model law guidelines. It was noted that developing an intercontinental framework for cybersecurity to foster trust and interoperability should be intentional in taking a deeper look into the legal definitions and local drivers of cyber norms.
The cybersecurity model law guidelines were proposed as a guidance document for member states to envision and test these norms and better understand how they can proactively combat cybercrime and mitigate the adverse impacts of cybersecurity threats considering their respective local contexts.
During the opening, Mactar Seck, Section Chief for Technology and Innovation Section, ECA, recalled the launch of the Digital Economy Report published by ECA. He underscored the importance of such multi-stakeholder platforms in accelerating the implementation of the AU’s Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa 2020 - 2030 and the UN Secretary-General’s Global Digital Compact. An earlier session highlighted the Cybersecurity Capacity Building (CCB) as one of ECA’s key intervention areas, highlighting some of the progressive gains achieved in pushing south-south collaboration for enhancing technical capacity on cyber security.
Media Contact
Mactar Seck,
Chief of Technology and Innovation Section (TCND)
Economic Commission for Africa
seck8@un.org
Abiy Goshu
Projects Communication
Technology and Innovation Section (TCND)
Economic Commission for Africa
abiy.goshu@un.org
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org
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