By: Hee-Dee Walenga
The Global Cybersecurity Initiative (GCI) was officially launched on Thursday morning in Windhoek.
The initiative is a Pan-African cybersecurity initiative created by DS Tech Namibia that seeks to connect businesses, governments, and innovators to secure, unlock, and accelerate opportunities across the African market.
Executive Chairman of DS Tech Namibia and the Global Cybersecurity Initiative (GCI), Paulinus Sheehama, explained that the platform seeks to protect Africa from the cyber threats that are a result of the continent’s rising adoption of digital tools.
“Africa’s digital transformation is accompanied by a significant increase in cyber threats. Africa loses an estimated US$4 billion annually to cybercrime,” the Chairman remarked.
The GCI also aims to align itself with the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
From inception, the GCI will connect businesses in Namibia, Kenya, Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, and South Africa. By 2029, the GCI aims to establish itself in 52 African countries.
“GCI can help you to enter, connect, demonstrate, partner, sell, and scale. If you are a company that wants to present your business solution to Africa, this is the platform. The objective is to move beyond traditional exhibition toward commercial partnership and technological adoption,” Sheehama said.
Managing Director of Frank Dialogue Holdings, Professor Onkgopotse JJ Tabane, welcomed the initiative. “This is a great initiative. While people are talking about the theory of African integration, you are doing something practical,” Tabane said.
Tabane lamented the number of conferences that take place in Africa that yield no tangible results, referencing the low level of intra-African trade, which currently stands at 15%.
“The GCI will contribute towards sustainable development,” the Professor added. Tabane further explained that grand ideas such as the Cape to Cairo railway likely will not come to fruition, but platforms such as the GCI create a “superhighway of information and access to the continent,” he said.
Managing Partner of AI Africa, Dr. Nishal Khusial, emphasised that there is not a single industry that does not require cybersecurity.
“What I have seen throughout is that with the advent of more advanced technology comes the possibility of more cybercrime exploitation. There’s an immediate correlation. So, the GCI is not only an attempt to interconnect our united Africa, but also to protect that interconnectedness,” Khusial said.
