In order to protect the digital space of the continent from security risks, particularly cybercrime, African governments have been recommended to expand stakeholder partnerships.
Karen White, the executive director of the Attorney-General Alliance-Africa (AGA-Africa), claimed that cybercrime was a growing concern to Africa and was costing the region enormous sums of money.
She emphasised the importance of strong partnerships between African nations in order to help them combat the growing digital threat to the growth of the continent.
Despite the fact that Africa is still among the least vulnerable to these dangers, Ms. White said there are becoming more cyberattacks on vital infrastructure, including communications networks and national security sites.
Yesterday in Accra, Ms. White offered the counsel during the two-day annual meeting of AGA-Africa.
"Exploring new horizons for cyber security and Africa's digital future" was the focus.
Exploring innovative approaches to using Africa's digital economy as well as addressing difficulties with law, regulation, and dangers from the cyber business are among the conference's goals.
Attorneys General from Africa and the United States, ICT leaders from the continent, venture capitalists interested in the African technology sector, and AGA-expanded Africa's networks of important decision makers are all present at the conference.
digital danger
As more government services move online, Ms. White claimed that rising vulnerabilities pose a danger to the continent's digital future.
It is also possible that transnational crimes could be made easier by the ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, which would allow for the free movement of people and goods across the continent and a market of 1.2 billion people with a combined gross domestic product of $3 trillion.
"These recent events emphasise the importance of our annual conference, which will take place over the next two days. In the fight against cybercrime and other transnational crimes that take advantage of the pervasive use of technology in our daily lives, I hope that the impressive list of speakers and presenters, drawn from government regulators, prosecution bodies, academia, and the private sector on the continent, will help us chart a new course, the speaker said.
In eight partner countries—Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Rwanda, and Zambia—AGA-Africa has trained legal officers and prosecutors in the investigation and prosecution of transnational crimes, including human trafficking, money laundering, counterfeit drugs, cybercrime, and wildlife trafficking, according to Ms. White.
Concerning Ghana
Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, the deputy attorney general, said that Ghana has achieved progress against cybercrime and other international crimes.
He said that the Ghana Police Service's Criminal Investigations Department had created a Cyber Crime Unit, the main function of which was to identify and look into cybercrime.
In addition, we have passed a number of laws, including the Electronic Transactions Act (ETA), the Data Protection Act (DPA), 2012, and the Economic and The 2019 National Cyber Security Policy was revised in accordance with the 2010 Organized Crime (EOCO) Act.
The Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) was also signed into law by the President in 2020, he added.
He claimed that the government has accepted important international agreements and treaties, including the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime and the Malabo Convention of the African Union on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection.
According to Mr. Tuah-Yeboah, the conventions raised Ghana's standing in the ITU's Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI), which measures global cyber security (ITU).
"According to the most recent GCI rankings, with a score of 86.69 percent, Ghana was ranked third on the continent, behind Tanzania and Mauritius.