Experts Meet in Kenya to Promote Cybersecurity in East African Bloc

NAIROBI, Xinhua: Experts convened in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday to promote cybersecurity across the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) region, an East African bloc, in response to mounting digital threats.

The three-day regional consultative seminar, focused on harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity for security, cooperation, and resilience, brought together senior government officials and cybersecurity experts from IGAD member states.

William Kabogo, cabinet secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy, said in his opening address that cyber threats in the region are escalating as public and private sectors increasingly embrace digitalization.

“To strengthen cyber security, IGAD member states can implement a multi-faceted approach that incorporates policy and technology cooperation,” Kabogo said.

IGAD Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu called for harmonized cybersecurity governance, including regional protocols for law enforcement, shared standards, and cross-border incident response mechanisms.

Gebeyehu urged the region to prioritize investment in cybersecurity professionals through the IGAD Digital Security Skills Initiative, which will focus on law enforcement applications.

Nejat Abdulrahman, head of the IGAD Security Sector Program, said the region can leverage AI to amplify cybersecurity capabilities to ensure citizens are protected by predictive security measures.

The IGAD member states, including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda, are expected to leverage the framework to collectively strengthen their capacity to tackle the increasing impacts of climate change on their food systems.