Africa-Press – Namibia. Namibia is looking to Russia for support in achieving technological independence, according to Audrin Mathe, executive director of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.
This was a central point of discussion during an expert roundtable hosted by the Sputnik News Agency and Radio in Russia a week ago in anticipation of Africa Day.
The event, titled ‘Innovations for Society: Russian-African Dialogue for Africa Day’, brought together experts from Russia, Mali, Namibia, Zambia and Kenya to explore future collaborations in high technology and innovation. Speaking via video conference, Mathe highlighted Namibia’s ambition to become technologically sovereign.
“We feel we can rely on the Russian experience for that. Russia was the first country to send a man into space,” he said.
Mathe stressed that the current practice of storing citizens’ personal data outside their own countries should come to an end.
He said achieving this is only possible through international cooperation.
He underlined the importance of establishing data centres in African countries and strengthening cybersecurity as key components of technological independence.
Mathe referred to the historical ties between Namibia and Russia, dating back to Namibia’s liberation struggle.
“We also detected attacks on government facilities. We had suspects coming from other countries, but this is a form of cooperation that Namibia and Russia can form,” he noted. He added that further collaboration could be forged, moving beyond the historical context of the liberation struggle and independence.
Mathe said Russia could be a valuable partner in ensuring the successful and swift implementation of digital services. He pointed out that many Central African states currently lack the capacity to build world-class data centres. Hence, cooperation between Russia and African nations could help reduce the associated costs. He reiterated that numerous African countries are currently storing their data in other nations, often outside the continent. With the increasing threat of cyberattacks, Mathe said he believes Namibia and Russia should work together to develop joint solutions for protecting data through robust cooperation.
He confirmed that Namibia is in the process of developing a data protection policy to ensure the safety of individuals. Mathe revealed that Namibia has recorded 2.7 million cyberattacks originating from outside the continent in recent years.
He said he is certain that Russia has faced similar attempts. Responding to Mathe’s remarks, Alexey Efimov, deputy director for strategic partnerships at Innopraktika, highlighted Russia’s global leadership in digitalisation and e-governance.
He said Russia is one of the few countries deploying its own digital solutions while effectively resisting cyberattacks.
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