Commonwealth: Africa’s Member States in Cybercrime School
► Cybercrime is a global scourge these days. It is in that vein that the commonwealth secretariat has announced today, the launch of the African Cyber Fellowship programme to support member countries in order to strengthen their cyber security and anti-cybercrime laws, policies and institutions.
Afrique54.net – The commonwealth association will involve Africa’s member States in a cybercrime school in the coming days according to a joint Nairobi and London press release received by your newspaper’s central office today 5th July 2022. The Commonwealth Association will work hand in partnership with the Protection Group International (PGI) and with the financial backing from the United Kingdom’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
The training will aim at facilitating collaboration between cyber security and cybercrime experts from the Commonwealth’s States members in Africa and empower them by providing access, exposure and training. In order to show the importance of the programme in African countries, the Head of the Rule of Law Division at the secretariat, Dr TawandaHondora declared: “At the Commonwealth Secretariat, we are constantly seeking new ways to assist member countries to build their capacity to fully leverage the benefits of the digital age”.
In this programme that fights against cybercrime, the Commonwealth’s Head of the Rule of the Law Division at the Secretariat did not omit to thank the collaboration with the Commonwealth’s partners. He said “We couldn’t be more grateful that our collaboration with the FCDO and PGI has help the Commonwealth Secretariat establish the fellowship programme, which will help us to learn from the fellows, who are experts in their fields of practice, and facilitate collaboration between member countries”.
It is important to mention that 3.5 billion dollars have been allocated to the fight against cybercrime in Africa. “Recent reports estimate that cybercrime has cost the African economy $3.5 billion USD, and as a result, stalled economic and industrial development, destroyed lives and livelihoods, shredded social fabrics, and increased the exploitation of vulnerable communities, including women, girls and the elderly”.
Today’s launch also follows the adoption of the Commonwealth Cyber Declaration during the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government, which recognised that a free, open, inclusive and secure cyberspace can help to foster economic growth for all communities as part of efforts to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
© Afrique54.net│Joseph Ayangma, Yaoundé
