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The Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, together with a 5-member delegation paid a working visit to the High Commissioner of Rwanda to Ghana, H.E. Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira on Tuesday, February 14, 2023. The purpose of the meeting was to explore possible areas of collaboration, especially following the signing of an MoU between the Cyber Security Authorities of Rwanda and Ghana on Monday, October 3, 2022.

H.E. Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira took the opportunity to outline the reasons for a strong collaboration and partnership that exist between the two countries, tracing a long-standing relationship back to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, where security organisations in Rwanda and Ghana collaborated closely. She highlighted the strong passion of the Heads of State of both countries to champion the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agenda, which informed the participation of Ghana and Rwanda as part of the 7 African countries that started trading under the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative.

Focusing on collaboration to facilitate trade and investments across the countries, she underscored the need to leverage on digital platforms, where the specialised agencies of the Cyber Security Authorities would be critical in ensuring the security of financial transactions among other e-trade elements. She also emphasised the strong commitment of the leadership of both countries towards shared prosperity and development, referencing the Joint Vaccine Manufacturing Project between Ghana, Rwanda, and Senegal; as well as the various MoUs the two countries have been able to sign since the establishment of the High Commission.

Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, Director-General of the CSA, commended the resilience of the Rwandan people, highlighting the country’s bounce back from the unfortunate Genocide incident. He expressed the CSA’s interest in having a discussion with Rwanda to outline tangibles from the MOU, especially areas that are quick wins, adding that resource constraints should not be a setback in the implementation of the MOU, as there are some areas where both countries can start to actively engage, such as the Cyber Conference, which is expected to take place in Rwanda in June 2023. Other key areas of collaboration he highlighted include:

• Exchange training and capacity-building programs between the two agencies.
• Education partnership where scholarship packages, grants and waivers from both sides could be considered in training staff in Cyber Security-related postgraduate courses in schools like Carnegie Mellon University Africa, among others.
• Ghana’s leadership on the continent as the first African country licensing and accrediting Cybersecurity Service Providers, Cybersecurity Establishments, and Cybersecurity Professionals was also highlighted as another opportunity for cross-learning and experience sharing, with the possibility to explore harmonization.

H.E. Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira commended Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako for his focus on deriving tangibles after the signing of the MOU between the two countries and proposed starting off with the human resource capital. She further noted that despite the resource constraints, there is a way the study exchange can be implemented for the Rwandan government to support the initiative. She added that the study opportunity at Carnegie Mellon University Africa is a good step especially since the tuition on the campus in Rwanda is about 40% of what the campus in the United States of America (USA) charges. She added that there are scholarships available for Africans, which can be implemented in due course and further noted that the CSA having a stand at the Cyber Conference in June 2023 is strategic, as the Free Trading Conference is also expected to come off in June 2023, with the promise of the High Commission to provide specific details to the CSA.

Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako added that some of the cybersecurity professionals being accredited in Ghana can be sent to Rwanda to offer cybersecurity services, and once Rwanda is willing to also start accreditation of cybersecurity service providers and professionals, exceptions could be made for Rwandan cybersecurity professionals to operate in Ghana. He also stated that the Rwanda and Ghana cybersecurity partnership can become an example for other African countries to learn from as an example that African partnerships can work.

After successful deliberations the following were agreed to:

Facilitate a virtual meeting between #TeamRwanda and #TeamGhana to jointly develop a roadmap for these proposals between now and June. Work closely on providing support to the safe implementation of the AfCFTA on the cyber security front, leveraging existing resources and experience. Strengthen relations between the High Commissioner and the Ghana’s Minister for Communications and Digitalisation.