Africa-Press – Mauritius. The three-day African Cyber Resilience Conference, organised by Cyber Resilience for Development Project (Cyber4D), an initiative of the European Union (EU), in close collaboration with the Ministry of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation, kickstarted, this morning, at the Hennessy Park Hotel in Ebène.
The Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Alan Ganoo; the Minister of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation, Mr.
Darsanand Balgobin; as well as the Ambassador of the EU to the Republic of Mauritius and Republic of Seychelles, Mr Vincent Degert, were present on the occasion.
The Minister of ICT and Innovation of the Republic of Rwanda, Ms Paula Ingabire, and other participants from various countries including Sri Lanka, the Dominican Republic, and different African regions are attending the conference.
In his address, Minister Ganoo underlined that the event was taking place within the framework of the Cyber Resilience for Development (Cyber4Dev) project, and expressed appreciation to the EU for the support extended.
He added that ICT and digital technologies had contributed to overcome challenges brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic and kept the economy open and fully functional. He observed that reliance on digitalisation and ICT would continue to grow.
“I have no doubt that this conference will craft out the desired outcomes in terms of cooperation and I am confident that Mauritius, as a Cyber4Dev hub, will be at the centre of our cyber resilience for a vibrant and secure African digital future for all,” said the Minister.
In addition, Mr Alan Ganoo dwelt on the various initiatives taken by the Government to develop cyber resilience and underlined the importance of cyber diplomacy.
He indicated that cyber security incidents were numerous and their impact spanned well beyond national boundaries. He pointed out that it was time for Africa to be at par with the rest of the world in terms of cyber security and cyber resilience.
According to the Minister, strengthening legal framework, coming up with strategies for cybersecurity and heightened cyber awareness were crucial for better mitigation. He further said that there should be deeper understanding and cooperation among countries on the application of international law to cyberspace.
“Partnerships at all levels,” he added, “will enable Governments to leverage much- needed cooperation in order to speak with one voice to act collectively for regional interests where needed and counter cyber threats in a holistic manner.
The Minister also recalled that Mauritius was fully committed to its engagements in the Multilateral System, and was a Party to various Bodies, including the Budapest Convention, the Commonwealth Cyber Declaration, the African Union Convention on Cyber security and Personal Data Protection, and the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), Cybersecurity Alliance for Mutual Progress (CAMP) and Global Action against Cybercrime Extended Project (GLACY+) of the Council of Europe.
For his part, Minister Balgobin said that the conference was organised to primarily launch “Mauritius as the Cyber4D Hub” as well as to enable African countries to engage in discussions with Cyber4D experts and learn from their experiences regarding diverse aspects of cyber resilience.
Moreover, Mr Balgobin pointed out that cybercrime was not only a question of attacks against the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer data and systems, but also against the core values and the human development potential of societies, which were increasingly relying on information technology.
“In light of this, we have the duty to protect our society and individuals against such cybercrimes and, to this effect, an efficient criminal justice response is vital,” he stressed. The Minister listed the ways Mauritius was combatting cybercrime.
These were namely through capacity building for which the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Centre of Excellence in the field of Cybersecurity was set up; the enactment of a new Cybersecurity and Cybercrime legislation to ensure that the Mauritian legislation remains strong and resilient to cybercrime; adherence to international norms; and the elaboration of the National Cyber Incident Response Plan.
Furthermore, Mr Darsanand Balgobin recalled that these initiatives played an important role in the ranking of Mauritius in the ITU Global Cybersecurity Index, where currently Mauritius was ranked 17th globally, and placed the country first in Africa for the past eight years.
As for the EU Ambassador, he highlighted the aims of the Conference which were to strengthen the collaborative relationship on cyber resilience among countries in the region, and to launch Mauritius as a cyber resilience hub for the African region.
He congratulated Mauritius on its laudable and fully deserved achievement, as well as its impressive progress made in strengthening its cybersecurity strategic framework, in increasing its cyber security response capabilities, and in developing and promoting networks and cyber expertise.
“By launching this hub for the African region,” emphasised Mr Vincent Degert, “the EU is seeking to strengthen regional cooperation in cybersecurity and enable the countries to develop stronger and more collaborative relationship, and draw on their experience, best practices and networks.
” African Cyber Resilience Conference The African Cyber Resilience Conference is organised in collaboration with Cyber4Dev Team which is funded by the European Union. It is a programme designed to protect public and private enterprises across countries in Asia and Africa against cyber threats.
The programme is meant to, inter alia, increase the cyber resilience of countries through programmes of awareness on cyber threats; develop national cyber security strategies; provide information assurance and resilience; set up training and equip Computer Emergency Response Teams; build early warning, information sharing and analysis capabilities as well as protect Critical Information Infrastructures.
The Conference is held over three days with around 50 participants having IT and cybersecurity expertise from Mauritius and different African regions.
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