Last Friday in Accra, the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) was established to defend the country’s essential information infrastructure and to guide its cybersecurity development through rules.
The transfer from the National Cyber Security Centre to the new body, which has regulatory powers and a clear mandate to defend the government, commercial sector, and general public against cyber-attacks, was a success.
Ghana has now entered the club of developing and developed countries with a sophisticated cybersecurity ecosystem, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Rwanda.
The enactment of the Cybersecurity Act of 2020 (Act 1038), a bill regarded as world-class legislation, made it possible.
Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, who introduced the authority, indicated that it was a bold move by the government to institutionalize and develop Ghana’s cybersecurity.
“Today is a watershed moment in Ghana’s cybersecurity growth as I formally introduce the CSA, a crucial organization tasked with safeguarding Ghana’s essential information infrastructure and guiding its cybersecurity development through rules.
“We are formally creating an agency with regulatory authorities and a clear mandate to defend all of us – the government, the commercial sector, and the general public – from cyber-attacks,” she said.
The occasion
The National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) 2021 and the Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) Directive were also launched during the occasion.
This year’s NCSAM subject is “Ghana’s Cybersecurity Act 2020: Its Implications and Stakeholder Role.”
The subject aims to highlight Ghana’s efforts to achieve a significant milestone – the enactment and implementation of cybersecurity law, as well as four other crucial pillars of a country’s cyber-security development, as recommended by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The enactment of the Cybersecurity Act of 2020 represents a watershed moment in the country’s progress toward a more secure and resilient digital ecosystem.
Collaboration across disciplines is required.
Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister of Energy, stated that new technologies are continuing to stimulate innovation and exciting new advances in the energy sector.
“This makes it more responsive to our needs and challenges, as well as to provide better, efficient outcomes,” he added. “At the Ministry of Energy, we have provided ICT training for some of our staff to help them facilitate and adjust with these innovations.”
Collaboration between the private and public sectors
The World Economic Forum had asked Ghana to execute a private-public collaboration for cyber-security development, according to the authority’s interim Director-General, Dr Albert Antwi-Boasiako.
