ADF STAFF
A new cybersecurity center in Togo will help governments monitor threats, share information and collaborate to stop cybercrime. The Togolese government is creating the African Cybersecurity Coordination and Research Center in collaboration with the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa.
“We aim to become a significant digital hub in Africa,” said Cina Lawson, Togo’s minister of digital economy. “Our partnership model with the private sector is an innovative approach that we want to showcase to inspire other countries for safer cyberspace on the continent.”
Togo is one of the few countries to have ratified the African Union’s Malabo Declaration, which commits nations to cooperate to improve cybersecurity. It was also the first country to welcome a landing of Google’s undersea internet cable offering high-speed connectivity.
Among the new center’s missions will be:
Building capacity and supporting cybersecurity agencies in African countries.
Collaborating with governments, policymakers, law enforcement agencies and security experts to create frameworks for assessing risk and mitigating threats.
Providing technical and research capabilities to promote cybersecurity on the continent.
Cybercrime is estimated to cost African countries
$4 billion per year.
“Cybersecurity must remain a major concern for African nations as a matter of national sovereignty and economic prosperity,” Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé said during a March 2022 convention on cybersecurity.