"We must raise the issue of cybersecurity to the rank of sovereign obligations of the State", advocates the Chadian doctor in economics Succès Masra, on the occasion of the second edition of the Cyber ​​Africa Forum which was held at the beginning of the week. in Abidjan, warning against the "digital war of tomorrow".

"If we do that, there will be obligations of result. Awareness of the issue is not yet fully there, we must speed up", he adds, calling on African actors to "appropriate the skills".

With 500 million Internet users, according to an Interpol report, Africa has more people connected than other regions such as South America or the Middle East.

However, less than 40% of the population is connected today on the continent, which leaves immense growth potential for the digital economy... and cyber threats.

For Colonel Guelpetchin Ouattara, head of the fight against cybercrime in Côte d'Ivoire, the response must be adapted to African specificities.

"We must scale our response to the local problem. We must not compare Africa to other parts of the world which have their own realities, their own digital environment, their own risks. We cannot say that Africa is late," he told AFP.

Many attacks concern, for example, money transfers by mobile, which are particularly widespread on the continent.

"Attacks on pure information systems represent less than 5% of our attacks in Côte d'Ivoire. Everything related to online scams or money transfers via mobile, video blackmail, etc. .. it's 95%", explains Colonel Ouattara.

Lucrative market

A few large-scale attacks like the one that briefly shut down Liberia's entire internet in 2016 have made headlines, but online scams remain the most preeminent cyberthreat, Interpol's study confirms, at the continental level.

The bill is no less salty: specialists estimate the economic losses linked to cybercrime at four billion dollars per year for African countries.

Specialists estimate the economic losses linked to cybercrime at four billion dollars a year for African countries ISSOUF SANOGO AFP/Archives

A few countries, like Côte d'Ivoire, have already adopted a national digital strategic plan.

Several combat tools are in place, in particular the Platform for the Fight against Cybercrime (PLCC), a structure of the Ministry of the Interior made up of investigators and technology specialists.

The PLCC's Facebook page, followed by 200,000 people, regularly publishes prevention messages and even accounts of arrests with the modus operandi of criminals, in order to raise awareness among individuals.

"Digital security must be a reflex for the citizen, exactly like when you lock the door in the evening when you return home", explains Colonel Ouattara.

Interest in cybersecurity issues is in any case growing on the continent, like a dedicated summit in Lomé last March.

According to a study by PwC, the cybersecurity market in Africa is estimated at $2.32 billion in 2020 compared to $1.33 billion in 2017.

“There is an awareness and a real enthusiasm”, assures Franck Kié, the general commissioner of the Abidjan forum where around twenty companies were also able to exhibit their products.

© 2022 AFP