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African states, institutions, and civil society have been called upon to demonstrate their commitment to cybersecurity, with the shared objective of protecting citizens, businesses, and organizations in this digital era. This was said by the Ag. Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority, Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, in a statement he read on behalf of the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, during the opening session of the Commonwealth Conference on Addressing Cybercrime in Sub-Saharan Africa on 17th January 2022 in Accra.

He indicated that it was regrettable that most African countries have failed to ratify two very important conventions which are critical for international cooperation in the fight against cybercrimes, the Malabo Convention and the Budapest convention. He added that the Government of Ghana was committed to the development of Cybersecurity in the country and has taken several steps to create awareness and build the capacity of relevant stakeholders including the criminal justice sector to respond to cybercrimes and cybersecurity incidents.

The Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana, His Lordship Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, who was the Guest Speaker at the event, was concerned that the advances in technology and its uses pose greater danger to many Africans as criminals become sophisticated in their modus operandi, as technology advances. He added that the increase in cybercrime in the region is also due to inadequate resources for local law enforcement agencies and government security services to combat the menace. He urged law enforcement agents, prosecutors, and judges to adapt to the new realities of the cyber-world and strengthen their capacities to investigate cybercrime and obtain electronic evidence which is now admissible in the court of law.

The conference was moderated by Dr. Tawanda Hondora, Head of Rule of Law at the Commonwealth Secretariat and Mr. Joseph Whittle, Political Counsellor of the Commonwealth and Development Office of the British High Commission. Live presentations on cybercrime and prevention were made by cybersecurity experts and a discussion was held at the final session by the delegates and representatives. From the deliberations, it became clear that some African countries like Malawi, Gambia and Lesotho do not have cybersecurity units in their law enforcement agencies.

In his closing remarks at the end of the conference on 20th January 2022, Dr. Antwi-Boasiako, represented by the Lead of National CERT, Mr. Owusu Bediako-Poku, said legal measures are important in fighting cybercrime because when there are gaps in national legislation, cybercrime become a low risk and lucrative venture. He thus urged governments, through the Attorney-General's offices, Departments of Justice, and other relevant agencies, to develop and conduct periodic reviews of cybercrime and cybersecurity legislation and ensure that legislation on cybercrime and cybersecurity are consistent with the human rights and digital rights of citizens.

Dr. Tawanda, Head of Rule of Law at the Commonwealth Secretariat, ending the session, advised Sub-Saharan African countries to start cybersecurity capacity building programmes in law schools and institutions for training judges and magistrates.

The four-day conference was organized by the Commonwealth Secretariat and attended by law enforcement officers, judges, lawyers, academicians, and experts from about 12 Commonwealth countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.