• Kaspersky and Smart Africa signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding to drive cybersecurity education in Africa.
• One of the goals of the collaboration is to address gender disparities in the fields of cybersecurity, STEM fields and ICT.
• The partnership builds builds atop Smart Africa’s African Network of Cybersecurity Authorities initiative.

As more Africans come online, the continent becomes a massive target for cybercriminals and in order to stave off attack, we defenders.

This week, Kaspersky and Smart Africa signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding to drive collaborative efforts aimed at expanding cybersecurity capabilities throughout the continent.

Smart Africa is an alliance of African nations, international organisations and private sector players. The overarching goal of this alliance is to “accelerate sustainable socio-economic development on the continent and usher Africa into the knowledge economy through affordable access to broadband and the use of ICTs”.

A partnership with Kaspersky then to improve cybersecurity through training, aligns with that mandate.

One of the goals of the collaboration is to address gender disparities in the fields of cybersecurity, STEM fields and ICT. Another goal is to drive consistency in cybersecurity policies in a bid to harmonise regional and national frameworks.

“This MoU marks a significant milestone in our quest to secure Africa’s digital future. By joining forces with Kaspersky, we are not only building essential cybersecurity skills and bridging the gender gap but also setting the stage for robust regional cooperation and state-of-the-art cyber infrastructure,” Lacina Koné, chief executive officer of Smart Africa wrote in a statement.

South Africa especially is a massive target for cybercriminals as outlined in a recent report from cybersecurity firm ESET. In its bi-annual threat report, the company found that South Africa is more likely to be targeted by ransomware and infostealers than any other country on the continent. Of all ransomware attacks that happened across Africa in 2024, 40 percent targeted South Africa.

As Kaspersky’s founder and chief executive officer, Eugene Kaspersky highlighted that collaborations such as this are for the benefit of the global economy, not just Africa.

“Our strategic partnership with Smart Africa is designed to help create a more secure cyberspace across the continent and beyond. We see this initiative as a commitment to empowering both individual users and organizations to ensure that everyone can navigate the digital world safely and with confidence,” the founder said.

This MoU builds atop the African Network of Cybersecurity Authorities (ANCA), a collaborative initiative designed by Smart Africa to bring together cybersecurity authorities from African countries to address the growing challenges posed by cyber threats and crimes.

We hope to see this partnership not only succeed but also continues after the three-year period.