• Cisco has published a new whitepaper titled Elevating Africa’s Cyber Resilience that looks at the state of cybersecurity across the African continent.
• One of the concerning statistics from the whitepaper is the fact that 75 percent of African countries are susceptible to crippling cyberattacks.
• Cisco says urgent attention is needed with GDP being impacted as a result of losses from cyberattacks.

Last year we published a report on how much many South African companies lose on average as a result of a data breach, with the figure estimated at R49.45 million. While this is a concerning amount, imagine how financially damaging cyberattacks would be on a national scale.

This is precisely what networking specialists Cisco has looked at recently, publishing a whitepaper in collaboration with public policy consultancy Access Partnership, and the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria.

The whitepaper, titled Elevating Africa’s Cyber Resilience, revealed that the continent needs to bolster its cybersecurity infrastructure, upskill its workforce, and strengthen related policies.

More specifically it found that 75 percent of African countries are highly vulnerable to cyberattacks.

“Africa is one of the fastest-growing regions in the world for internet penetration and the use of mobile-based financial services, making it an increasingly attractive target for cybercriminals. Businesses and the public sector urgently need to increase cyber resilience to compete globally, change the continent’s economic path and attract investment,” noted Charmaine Houvet (pictured below), senior director of Government Strategy and Policy at Cisco Africa.

Citing predictions for the continent’s growth in the short-term, as much as $4 trillion in combined GDP is expected by 2027, but cyberattacks pose a serious risk to any kind of economic sustainability that can be fostered locally.

This as data in the whitepaper saw cyberattacks cost Africa more than 10 percent of its GDP in 2021, which equates to roughly $4.12 billion in losses.

In South Africa, with the government of national unity (GNU) now in place, we have also ready seen how cyberattacks aided by corrupt officials is impacting the country’s coffers, as R300 million has been pilfered from the Department of Public Works over the past decade.

Painting a concerning picture, Cisco highlighted in a release shared with Hypertext that, “The frequency and complexity of cyberattacks have escalated, posing a substantial barrier to the continent’s socio-economic development. In the second quarter of 2023, Africa experienced its highest average number of weekly cyberattacks per organization, reaching 2,164 attacks, a 23% increase from the same period in 2022.”

“The growth of cyberattacks outpaces the development of effective response mechanisms, including robust regulatory frameworks and the training and upskilling of defenders,” it added.

As for addressing this growing problem, Cisco advocates for work to be done in there areas – people, technology, and process.

On the people front, serious efforts much be made to tackle the skills and gender gap within the businesses and cybersecurity sectors, with Houvet noting that public and private sector collaboration will be essential in doing so.

“Entities in the private sector can scale learning initiatives to improve career opportunities, boost employability and build the necessary skills required for jobs of the future,” she emphasised.

When it comes to technology, 5G, robotic process automation, and generative AI (genAI) are viewed as opportunities to better handle cyberattacks. “94% of South African organisations reported being targeted by phishing attacks in 2023, highlighting the need to build cybersecurity resilience and deploy advanced cybersecurity technologies,” Cisco pointed out.

“These include encryption and cryptography, security information and event management (SIEM) systems, and cloud computing. AI and machine learning (ML) technologies are becoming more sophisticated, and even blockchain is being employed to enhance security,” it outlined.

Lastly in terms of process, Cisco is advocating for a unified framework to be put in place. “Thirty-nine of 54 African nations have implemented cybersecurity legislation. However, with the increase of inter-African trade and travel, there is a growing need for a more harmonized approach,” it said.

“Governments must collaborate to develop, review, and update comprehensive legislation to address new and emerging cybersecurity issues, including the protection of vulnerable and marginalised groups,” the company shared.

With cyberattacks continuing to be an issue on the African continent, it is clear that more needs to be done across all sectors and with all stakeholders to ensure future GDP is not crippled.

To download and read the whitepaper for yourself, head here.