IGF 2023 WS #347 Africa's Youth Populace and the Global Cyber Workforce

    Organizer 1: Samaila Atsen Bako, 🔒CSEAN
    Organizer 2: Elizabeth Kolade, 🔒Resilience Technologies

    Speaker 1: Anna Rywczyńska, Technical Community, Eastern European Group
    Speaker 2: Samaila Atsen Bako, Civil Society, African Group
    Speaker 3: Elizabeth Kolade, Civil Society, African Group
    Speaker 4: Kyezonya Blessing Musa, Private Sector, African Group
    Speaker 5: Samuel Omale, Civil Society, African Group
    Speaker 6: Amina Ramallan, Government, African Group

    Moderator

    Amina Ramallan, Government, African Group

    Online Moderator

    Samuel Omale, Civil Society, African Group

    Rapporteur

    Kyezonya Blessing Musa, Private Sector, African Group

    Format

    Round Table - 60 Min

    Policy Question(s)

    Is the increase in cybercrime a result of poverty or greed?
    Are legal deterrents sufficient to curb this menace of cybercrime?
    Are preventive measures considered the most effective approach in stopping crime?

    What will participants gain from attending this session? Understand why cybercrime is growing in Africa
    Recommendations on how to produce cyber defenders in low income countries
    Recommendations on how to leverage the potentials of the African youth to solve a global concern

    Description:

    Africa boasts a very large youth population with quite a number of countries have a median age of 25 and below. Countries like Nigeria, which has about 200 million people, also have an underemployment and unemployment issue. At the same time, there is an increase in the rate of cybercrime and cyberattacks across the continent, and the world at large. It is not news that there is a direct link between an increase in unemployment and an increase in crime or insecurity. As such, it is important to explore avenues to reposition the teeming African youth population to potentially fill the huge gap in the global cyber workforce, before they become further drawn towards the menace of cybercrime.

    Expected Outcomes

    To consider initiatives the private sector, academia, and governments can execute to ensure the large youth population develops digital skills, including cybersecurity.
    To wake each stakeholder up to its responsibilities in upskilling our youth and repositioning Africa in the 21st century.
    To remind people that cybercrime is a global problem, so a global approach to resolving it must be adopted, and stereotyping will not do us any good.

    Hybrid Format: All online and onsite participants will be an important part of the audience. Therefore, online and onsite moderators will ensure that there is a common queue of questions for online and onsite participants so that each group has the same priority to ask questions to the speakers, whether they are online or onsite. There will also be online speakers, which guarantees that adequate attention is given to those joining online.