Kenya asserted itself once again as a digital security leader as Cyber Week Africa 2025 officially launched in Nairobi to signal the start of a pan-African conversation on how to enhance cybersecurity and digital resilience across the continent.
Drawing from the theme “Compliance by Design: Securing Africa’s Digital Future,” Cyber Week Africa 2025 convenes top government policy decision-makers, technology industry players, and academic research experts to debate how best to safeguard Africa’s fast-growing digital environment.
The five-day event is hosted by the Kenya School of Government (KSG), Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy (MOICDE), the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee (NC4), CyberPro Global, and Huawei.
The alliance is an indication that there is a need to come together in defending digital infrastructure because cyberattacks are on the increase in the continent.
Addressing the ceremony during its maiden event, Cabinet Secretary for ICT and Digital Economy Hon. William Kabogo Gitau said that cybersecurity had become one of the most important pillars of Kenya’s national and economic agenda.
“‘Compliance by Design’ is a subject that resonates with the paradigm shift in our nation’s approach. It’s a matter of designing security, privacy and accountability into the makeup of each and every digital system to begin with,” Kabogo added. “Cybersecurity is not only a technical mandate it’s a foundation of national sovereignty and a driver of economic growth.”
On behalf of the private sector, Huawei Kenya Enterprise Business Managing Director Mr. Samuel Cheng also attested to the company’s dedication to building secure, future-ready networks as well as enhancing local cybersecurity capability.
“As an industry, we need to ensure our systems and networks are reliable and secure. Huawei is dedicated to offering trusted solutions and to driving innovations in network security technologies,” Cheng said.
One of the products of Ministry of ICT collaboration, Huawei also officially signified the graduation of 40 government officials who had finished advanced cybersecurity training the first step on Kenya’s path towards building its digital defense capability and igniting public institutions with a cyber-aware culture.
Kenya School of Government Director General Prof. Nura Mohamed stated that KSG is working to be a regional digital transformation, research, and partnership hub.
We would like to engage all the players so that we can drive the agenda for artificial intelligence and cyber security, especially with the government,” he said. “That is why we established the Regional Center of Competence for Digital Skilling and Artificial Intelligence the first in the region as a way of steering the adoption of AI, digital skilling, and cyber security.”.
In his address on an international scale, Israeli Ambassador to Kenya H.E. Gideon Behar welcomed the initiative by Kenya to enhance digital security and provided some lessons learnt from Israel’s experience.
“If a country doesn’t have cybersecurity today, it cannot develop, because everything is digitalized,” said Ambassador Behar. “Cybersecurity is among the pillars of national prosperity and development. Israel is ready to assist Kenya in its dream of becoming the regional hub of digital innovation and cyber excellence.”.
He added that Israel’s success in the industry is due to firm government leadership, research collaboration, and sound innovation economy the pillars instrumental in fueling Kenya’s digital revolution.
Huawei has more than 4,000 cybersecurity experts employed by it globally and spends 5% of R&D on security R&D.
By engaging in long-term cooperation with the Ministry of ICT, KSG, and domestic universities, the company is enabling the government officials, students, and experts to acquire world-class knowledge in cloud computing and cyber security.
Throughout the week, as Cyber Week Africa 2025 takes place, discussion will focus on private-public partnerships and how to construct an open, safe, and innovation-driven digital economy.
The forum is well-timed as Kenya is presently facing a wave of cyber attacks on government and private networks an eye-opener to the importance of investing in capacity and intersectoral collaboration to guarantee the safety of the country’s digital future.
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