The African Union Commission, together with a number of partnering organisations, holds the first continent-wide African Forum on Cybercrime from 16 to 18 October 2018 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia bringing together more than 250 delegates from across the continent.
The Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, H.E. Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid, spoke in the opening of the Forum:
It is our task and collective responsibility to build a Safe, Secure, Trustworthy and Inclusive Cyberspace for the benefit of all African people and States.
On his part, the Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to the African Union, Mrs. Anna Burylo, stated that:
The evolution of information communication technology has seen in parallel the development of criminal activity that threatens citizens, businesses, governments and critical infrastructures alike: cybercrime. It is a borderless problem [...] The European Union therefore strongly believes that we need to work together at all levels to address it.
The Forum brings together delegates from policy makers, legislative bodies and criminal justice authorities of around 50 African countries, regional organizations, national governments, international institutions and private sector, focusing on three main streams:
- Cybercrime policies and legislation, international standards and good practices;
- International cooperation against cybercrime;
- Capacity building to empower criminal justice authorities to deal with cybercrime cases.
The Forum is organized by the African Union Commission with the support of the Council of Europe, the European Union, INTERPOL, UNODC, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the U.S. State Department and the UK Home Office.
For more information, follow the updates on the African Forum on Cybercrime event page.
