1. Cybersecurity in the ECOWAS region
Cyber capacity building
GFCE Annual meeting
Brussels, 1st June 2017
Dr Raphael KOFFI
Acting Director Telecom & Regulatory Reforms
ECOWAS Commission 1

2. ECOWAS At A Glance Established 28 May 1975 15 Member States
8 Francophone: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Niger, Mali, Senegal and Togo
5 Anglophone: Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone
2 Lusophone: Cabo Verde and Guinea-Bissau
4 middle income countries: Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria
Population : 370 Million+ 2

3. ICT in ECOWAS
ICT is key in the development of West Africa and the engine of the regional integration
The core objective of the ECOWAS in ICT is the establishment of a single Digital Market in West Africa
‘There will be no real Digital Single Market in West Africa without a secure cyber environment in the region’
Core objective - that will facilitate the deployment of reliable, affordable and secured Telecommunication/ICT services for community citizens 3 3

4. Cybersecurity & Cybercrime
Damage costs
Nigeria lost about $550 million in 2016
14.4% (13.5 million) of Nigerian Internet users (97 million) suffer cyber attacks
Ghana lost $50 million
Cote d’Ivoire lost $8,779,070 in 2014 and $ 6,636,530 in 2015
Cybersecurity a “pay now or pay later business”
Either substantial investments are made now, or a big price is paid later 4 4

5. Cybersecurity & Cybercrime
Current Situation
According to the Internet Cybercrime Complaint Centre: Some ECOWAS Countries occupy preeminent positions in global cybercrime ranking 70% of cybercrimes are related to known vulnerabilities that are not addressed
Poor awareness
Need to establish Cybersecurity CERT/CSIRT
Cybercrimes in Africa are mostly committed through social network
According to Internet Cybercrime Complaint Centre - Ghana, Nigeria
Have CERTS – NG, GH, CI 5 5

6. Challenge: Domestication
Enforcement of Laws at National level
Campaigns to sensitize on cyber laws
Insufficient legislations
Through:
Promotion of harmonisation of legislation on cybercrime and electronic evidence  
Enacting and enforcing comprehensive legal frameworks related to cybersecurity and cybercrime
Assisting ECOWAS Member States in strengthening their domestic legislations on the basis of the:
ECOWAS Directive on Fighting Cyber Crime
Supplementary Act on Personal Data Protection
Supplementary Act Electronic Transactions.
AU Convention on Cybersecurity and data protection
Budapest Convention on Cybercrime 6 6

7. Challenge: Skillsets Desperate need of capacity building
Low level of capacities to respond to cybercrime cases
Through:
Council of Europe – Cooperation agreement
Francophone ‘Train the trainers’: Judiciary & Prosecutors – March 2017
Advanced training for Francophone Judiciary & Prosecutors – August 2017
All Member States capacity building on cyber legislation – September 2017
Anglophone ‘Train the trainers’: Judiciary & Prosecutors – November 2017
Cybersecurity Alliance for Mutual Progress (CAMP)/Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) – Member
ICT policy makers: conference on how to maintain a secure and resilient cyberspace – April 2017
Lack of skills for cybersecurity and cybercrime issues
CoE – letter of cooperation – train the trainers on cybercrime and electronic evidence
Member of CAMP through Korea Information Security Agency (KISA)
US - to assist MS in developing, defining and implementing a national cybersecurity strategy 7 7

8. Challenge: Strategies & Policies
Lack of national cybersecurity strategies
Through:
Promoting a culture of cybersecurity
Developing national cyber strategies
US Department of State
All Member States: Cybersecurity Strategy Workshop – June 2017
ITU
Pilot project on strategy on Child online protection 8 8

9. Challenge: Cooperation
Information sharing on best practices
Low level of regional and international cooperation
Through:
Intra-state, intra-agency, International cooperation
Collaborating with
Council of Europe
CAMP
Etc.
CoE: Budapest convention
WB: Cybersecurity assessment in MS 9 9

10. New Initiative: Cyber Security Strategy for ECOWAS
Objective
Contribute to enhance Cyber security among ECOWAS countries.
The activities will aim to:
strengthen ECOWAS capacity and coordinating role for cyber security in the region
strengthen each country’s capacity and ability to integrate cyber security in a public sector 10

11. Outlook
Implementation of ECOWAS Cybersecurity Agenda in collaboration with:
EU (11th EDF)
CoE (GLACY+)
CAMP
GFCE
US DoS
World Bank
Etc. 11

12. THANK YOU ! 12 12