Compelled Service Provider Assistance for State Surveillance in Africa: Challenges and Policy Options

By CIPESA Writer |

In many Sub-Saharan countries, state surveillance, which generally refers to state measures to monitor and supervise activities of the population, has become more pervasive and reliant on various digital technologies. The increasing communication surveillance, which entails the monitoring, interception, collection and retention of information through communication networks, undermines digital technology users’ rights, including to privacy, and…

Will Our Human Rights and Freedoms and a Free and Open Internet be the Next Victims of Cybercrime?

Manifesto Launch |

The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has joined civil society organisations and industry in a rally against the potential threat of cybercrime on human rights and freedoms as well as the open internet.

Day-by-day the effects of cybercrime continue to get worse. Although something clearly needs to be done, there is growing concern…

Overview of Intermediary Liability in Senegal

By Astou Diouf |

Among its west African counterparts, Senegal is among the leaders in digitalisation efforts. Its press freedom rankings are high and the country has also recorded positive strides in data protection. Telecommunications sector players include 2018 entrants ARC Telecom, WAW Telecom and Africa Access, alongside the state-owned Sonatel, Free (initially licensed as SENTEL, later rebranded as Tigo), and…

Are Cryptocurrencies the Future of Freedom and Financial Inclusion in Africa?

By Daniel Mwesigwa and Thomas Robertson |

Advances in innovation have ushered in new approaches to digital transformation and financial service provision. With the growth in internet connectivity in sub-Saharan Africa, emerging technologies such as blockchain and cryptocurrencies have the potential to advance financial inclusion.

Blockchain is the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, among others. The emergence of…

Sierra Leone’s New Cybercrime Bill Could Turn a Phone Into a Crime Scene

By Alhaji Koroma|
Digitization has been a huge boost to Sierra Leoneans in recent years, making new spaces available online to freely express and share sensitive views and information on the country’s political and socio-economic issues.
But Sierra Leone’s current laws on free speech in digital spaces do not adequately protect citizens from targeted harassment or arbitrary threats and arrests.
Now, a proposed cybercrime…

Seven African Governments Employ Surveillance Spyware, Says New Study

Africa News Update |
The snooping technique tracks phones and intercepts calls and texts
The governments of seven African countries — Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Zambia, and Zimbabwe — are using spyware technology, according to a new report by Citizen Lab, an interdisciplinary research unit at the University of Toronto, Canada.

The study has identified at least 25 countries around the world that have…

Kenyan Police Officers Now Required to Undergo a 6-month Compulsory ICT Training

By Titilola Oludimu |

In line with its vision to digitise the Kenyan Police Service, the government wants its police officers to undergo a compulsory ICT training for a maximum of six months.

The training, according to Fred Matiang’i, the country’s Interior Cabinet Secretary, is aimed at equipping police officers with basic ICT knowledge to be able to use the newly launched National Police…

How Undermining Encryption threatens Online User Security in Africa

By Arthur Gwagwa |

For activists, human rights defenders, journalists/bloggers, whistleblowers, sexual minorities, among others, digital tools that use encryption to enable anonymity over unsecured online networks such as the internet to facilitate not only free flow of information but also, and above all, protect personal security. At the fundamental level, anonymity is enabled by tools that use encryption techniques which…

Nigeria and the Obsession to Regulate Social Media

Nigeria News Update |

On June 26, 2018, the Chairman of the Nigerian Senate Committee on ICT and Cybercrime, Abdul Fatai Buhari, announced that the Nigerian government has laid before the Senate a Bill set to regulate social media “because many Nigerians are misusing it.”

Making the announcement during a speech at a Cybersecurity Conference in Abuja, he said that if social media is…

The Digital Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa: What’s Missing?

By Kesa Pharatlhatlhe|

The global digital economy continues to grow, fueled by the increasing migration of social interactions, economic activities, and transactions online. Indeed the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector is powering various activities, such as banking, buying and selling goods and services, and access to health, education and entertainment.

In Africa, innovation, increasing affordability of hardware and internet connectivity are…