Minister Savannah pushes for stronger cybersecurity cooperation in Africa

MINISTER of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Savannah Maziya has called for stronger cybersecurity cooperation among African countries as governments work to protect their digital systems from growing online threats.

Maziya addressed the Africa Cybersecurity Indaba 2026 in Sandton, South Africa, yesterday where she spoke on the need to build trusted and secure digital nations across the continent.

Her address focused on how countries can work together to strengthen cybersecurity beyond their national borders. The conference started on Wednesday and concluded yesterday at The Galleria Conference and Exhibition Centre. It brought together government leaders, cybersecurity experts, businesses, researchers and policymakers to discuss ways of making Africa’s digital economy safer.

As African countries increasingly depend on technology to deliver public services, process payments and run businesses, cyber threats have become a growing concern. A security problem affecting one service provider can also disrupt other businesses and institutions that depend on it. Maziya’s participation comes at a time when cooperation between countries is important because cybercrime can cross borders and affect several economies at once.

Founder and Chief Empowerment Officer of CyberM8 Initiative NPC Thabang Phala said businesses could face risks even when they had invested in protecting their own systems.

“Businesses can invest in protecting their own systems and still depend on services they do not control,” Phala said. He said cybersecurity required organisations to understand their dependencies, establish clear responsibilities and know how to respond when something went wrong.

“For a business owner, the practical question is whether customers can continue to be served and operations can recover,” he said.

The conference explored how governments, businesses and technology experts can improve information sharing, strengthen digital infrastructure and prepare for cyber incidents.

Cybersecurity is also a concern for businesses, which may depend on telecommunications networks, online payment systems, cloud services and external suppliers to operate. A disruption to any of these services can affect daily operations and customer confidence.

According to the conference organisers, businesses need to understand the risks linked to services they depend on, establish clear responsibilities and prepare to recover when systems are disrupted.

The financial cost of cybercrime has also highlighted the need for stronger protection. The South African Banking Risk Information Centre reported that digital banking losses in South Africa increased from about E1.9 billion in 2024 to E2.4 billion in 2025. Banking application-related crime accounted for more than 70% of reported digital banking losses.

These figures relate specifically to digital banking crime and show the risks facing financial services as more people use digital platforms.

Countries represented at the Indaba were Eswatini, South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Ghana, Malawi and Zimbabwe. The gathering was meant to strengthen cooperation between governments, businesses and research institutions in addressing cybersecurity challenges.