As cybercriminals target African businesses and government institutions, the CyberSafe Foundation is set to launch Resilio Africa, a three-year project designed to reduce the risk of cyberattacks in communities.
The project, supported by Google, aims to make communities and local institutions stronger and safer in the digital space.
Resilio Africa will help 200 critical community institutions (CCIs) by giving them free technical tools, cybersecurity assessments, threat intelligence and incident-response support. The program is expected to protect more than 2 million people and secure more than 15 million public records in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. It is one of the biggest community-focused cybersecurity projects on the continent.
“Africa’s digital transformation cannot succeed if our communities remain vulnerable,” said Confidence Staveley, founder and executive director of the Lagos, Nigeria-based CyberSafe Foundation. “With Google.org’s support, we are scaling a proven model that will help critical institutions become resilient, safeguard the people they serve, and preserve trust in digital public systems.”
Resilio Africa will provide CCIs with technical tools and cybersecurity assessments, custom playbooks, and incident response frameworks. Instructors will offer more than 10,000 hours of free cybersecurity consulting. They will provide tiered cybersecurity training for executives, IT teams and general staff, and training for more than 4,500 employees across the four countries.
Cybersecurity experts warn that institutions across Africa are vulnerable. Ransomware attacks against government offices, health care institutions and businesses are rising. Kenyan national security agencies identified more than 114 cyberattacks targeting community institutions in the first eight months of 2024, followed by a 201% increase in attacks in the first quarter of 2025.
CyberSafe Foundation says that, without support, cyber incidents could disrupt essential public services, expose sensitive data, and create digital and physical harm for millions of people. Since 2019, the foundation has reached more than 30 million people, trained more than 70,000 people and helped more than 4,000 small businesses strengthen their cybersecurity.
“We believe that access to secure digital systems is a cornerstone of inclusive growth,” said Haviva Kohl, senior program manager at Google.org.