There was good reason to worry about last week’s internet outage, which mainly affected some of Africa’s major trading blocs: Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire. The internet blockade is dubious: it is an attack on democracy, trade and the continent’s independence.
An important question we should be asking is: Why are Africa’s major trading blocs being hit by this cyberstorm, especially as some of them prepare in earnest for elections? Excuses for submarine cable outages should not be taken lightly. From a geo-cyberpolitical perspective, there’s more. This requires exploring its logical conclusion.
If the technological revolution narrative remains unchanged, Africa is likely to experience a more sophisticated internet and cyber warfare. Even more worrying is the level of vulnerability it creates for a continent with more than 500 million people online. We need to be soberly aware of the fact that the era of information and communication technology and digital transformation has ushered in a new community with complexities, and we need to manage this paradigm shift with extreme caution to remain viable in global affairs.
How do you expect to run a business and manage the affairs of the African continent under such a control system? What is intriguing is that at this stage of complex global competition, any continent or country that does not have absolute control over its network and Internet architecture will face serious security threats with devastating consequences. Can you imagine what would happen if the Internet in the United States, Russia, and China were under the control of such a cyberspace architecture? never! They don’t make infantry mistakes like this.
The technology war between China and the United States should prompt us as a continent to recalibrate our investment policies toward homegrown information and communications technology innovation. Elon Musk’s internet revolution has an antidote to certain internet blackouts, and drastic measures must be taken as a matter of business and political risk management to procure and deploy some of these gadgets as a short-term strategy to protect the integrity of the continent First things first. Challenging elections ahead. We need to take prudent steps to reorient our efforts toward the future.
Security threats are unprecedented. Every sector of our society, from the private to the public sector, has been impacted immeasurably. Corporate risk managers, civil society organizations and policymakers must step up efforts to avoid the devastating impact of this disaster on business and social life.
In the area of governance, decisions that rely on data transmission and processing are also affected. National security is at risk. If we are to put risk management at the heart of the country and Africa as a whole, then strong internet and enterprise security and infrastructure must be built at all costs. Our independence means nothing if our cybersecurity is controlled by others. This affects not only public and private businesses, but also our dignity and privacy as a people.
The State of Cybersecurity Resilience (2023) report highlights the growing need to protect digital assets and critical information. In view of this, strong measures must be taken to protect our future in the fog of increasing cyber terrorism.
As part of risk assessment and mitigation measures, I will urge state agencies and private institutions, especially in the financial and security fields, to rigorously audit corporate and private accounts to accelerate or resolve possible hacking of financial security, data and information security comprehensive.
Let us also not forget that the success and continued success of all continental projects and initiatives, including the African Continental Free Trade Area, can only be achieved through proactive cybersecurity measures, policies and strategic investments at government, regional and continental levels to remain competitive . and remain resilient on the global front.
With such transformative leadership at the forefront of sustainable development in Africa, the African Development Bank should support and reverse the failure of leadership on the continent.