IGF 2021 WS #18 Cyber Diplomacy in Africa and Digital Transformation

The workshop which was held on the 8th December was moderated onsite by Dr. Margaret Nyambura Ndung'u and online by Mr. Adil Sulieman.
The panellists were:
1. Mr. Abdul-Hakeem Ajijola - Chair of AUCSEG and former commissioner, Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace
2. Dr. Nnenna Ifeanyi-Ajufo - Vice chair of AUCSEG, Senior lecturer, Law and Technology at Swansea University, UK
3. Mr. Vladimir Radunović – Diplo Foundation
4. Mr. Pearse O’Donohue, Director Future Networks, DG CONNECT
The Rapporteur was Ms. Rakotondrainibe Harimino Lalatiana
The onsite moderator placed the discussion in the context of the digital transformation strategy launched by the AU in 2020 to 2023, where there is a need to build trust and ensure there is a liable and secure infrastructure across the continent. She highlighted that while The Malabo convention on cybersecurity and data protection was launched in 2014 to ensure safety and privacy online, less than 15 countries across Africa had ratified. She noted that Cyber Diplomacy works by building strategic partnerships across social, economic, and cultural dimensions of development.
The following were the discussed questions
1. Why is Cyber Diplomacy important for the continent? Should we as a continent be interested with issues related to Cyber Diplomacy? What opportunities does Cyber-Diplomacy present?
2. Could cyber diplomacy be the panacea to unlock the ratification of the Malabo convention? Are African states ready for regulation of digital space through International law and cooperation?
3. How can the African states prepare for Cyber diplomacy, participate and follow UN processes and ultimately implement the outcome of the processes
4. In the 2020 EU Cybersecurity strategy the EU presented a series of actions related to global Internet security. How could African stakeholders be involved in the overall effort to increase Internet security?
5. What is the relevance of digital cooperation in digital governance strategies including policy making, the African Digital Transformation Agenda and other continental efforts such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), African Single Market (ASM) and the AU Agenda 2063 aspirations?
6. Are African Diplomats and senior leadership including parliamentarians well informed on the role of Cyber – Diplomacy in enriching their work in their respective mandates?
7. Africa has diverse digital development status. What are the potential challenges in implementing the UN Framework(s) for Responsible State Behavior and Confidence Building Measures in Cyberspace?
8. Can you share with us ongoing initiatives, if any, by EU to promote cyber-diplomacy in developing countries? If so, are there Africa specific initiatives?
Key highlights:

• Cyber diplomacy is important for Africa because norms (soft laws) created in cyberspace will impact us over the long term and Africa should be meaningfully at the table to discuss those norms as like others must live, in the future, with the precedents set and decisions that are made today.
• The continent should be interested in issues related to Cyber Diplomacy because cyberspace like any global environment is only as strong as its weakest link, and Africa must NOT be the weak link.
• There are direct interests in investing in Cybersecurity. The Cyber Security solution market across Africa will be anywhere between 10 and 15 billion dollars US and soon this field will offer 3,1 million vacant jobs. Thus, Africa must develop a generation of cyber diplomats that will be sufficiently informed to address the rules and the norms, and interaction among the states in cyber.
• Cyber Diplomacy can be much needed to push for the ratification of the Malabo convention to have uniformity of strategy and policy all over the continent. -Africa is more disadvantaged when speaking about cyber diplomacy because we still lack the digital capacity to compete at the international level and participate in cyber diplomacy discussions. Furthermore, Africa is diverse and each state has its context, which influences the ideology and capacity to build the implication for dialogue and implication for cybersecurity measures. Taking the example of the Malabo convention, the failure or refusal to ratify this convention may have political dimensions rooted in our diversity (political, cultural, historical) in addition to the lack of capacity despite many initiatives, confidence building measures and capacity building, led by the AUC.  The preparation for Cyber diplomacy in Africa lies in two strategies:
  • Firstly, by ensuring buy-in from African leaders and decision-makers to ensure cybersecurity is on the agenda. This can be achieved by reconnecting or reframing cybersecurity to real issues.
  • Secondly, by dealing with human resources and capacity as Africa lacks informed resources which influenced their participation at the international level. There should also be better coordination at the national level between ministries and more inclusion by getting people who are not always officials on board.
• The Internet is a global and unified ecosystem and should remain as it is. That is why it is important not to think of it as only a national or regional issue to avoid internet fragmentation. We should avoid thinking that the internet is a decentralized and distributed network, and as such is resilient without any point of failure. Governments and multistakeholder from Africa must be allowed to be fully engaged in any issues addressed on the global internet.
• On the relevance of digital cooperation in digital strategies it was noted that diplomatic efforts will impact dialogues and negotiations for cybersecurity based on the capacity of countries. The discussions on digital cooperation should not only be limited to external international cooperation but extended to inter-cooperation.
• It was note that there seems to be the misperception that Cyber Diplomacy is not an African problem to solve. This is compounded by a lack of awareness, a consistent approach, and consensus on cyber norms. To overcome this, we should encourage research to support African Parliamentarians and ultra-high level strategic decision- makers in drafting inter-linked and coherent norms and policies as well as the formation of global coalitions of cyber professionals and a mentoring ecosystem. Africa must articulate its Philosophy, Ethics, Policy, Strategies, and accountability frameworks across the spectrum of Cyber Diplomacy.
• Regarding the challenges for the implementation of the UN Framework, it was noted that the main challenge is the perception that the UN Framework is only for big players in cyber diplomacy. Furthermore, this framework is only about a conflict, in essence, it sets the agenda and builds capacity, it is a geopolitical position, which boosts political awareness at a national level to take measures.
  • Among the ongoing initiatives, by the EU to promote cyber-diplomacy in developing countries includes:
• “Cyber direct” project: contribute to the development of a secure international cybersphere, to support the principles of single open stable free secure cyberspace which adheres to the values of democracy and human rights. The initiatives promote the UN framework for responsible states' behaviour to ensure the stability of cyberspace.
• In 2022, there will be an initiative that promotes open and free internet in Africa working with African partners. The vision is to assist in physical connection for millions of people and the need for cybersecurity to protect people.
• The workshop ended with a round of questions with a point of reflection on:
  • Whether Africa needs to take part in Cyber Security as a priority knowing the fact that it is not yet digitized, with a lack of access and behind in terms of technologies? o What if cybersecurity doesn’t exist?
  • How do we build young cyber diplomats?
  • Do we have a cyber-diplomacy model that can be applied in other sub-regions?
• It was noted that being the least digitized continent does not mean that we do not need cybersecurity considering that the new users of the internet are the most vulnerable and need to be protected. - we must develop our digital capacity based on teaching and research in the South.
• All societies require trust to optimally function, and cybersecurity is a foundation to build trust in the digital society - We must think about the uniformity of the cybersecurity framework all over Africa.