Africa Tasked To Advance Fight Against Cyber Crimes

Civil society groups, the academia and governments in Africa have been tasked to take advantage of activities of the African Centre for Cyber Law and Cyber Crime Prevention (ACCP) and intensify the fight against cyber crimes on the continent. The United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFRI), made the call in a statement signed by its Director and Head of Mission, Dr Masamba Sita. It expressed worry that the Computer and Internet were being used for crimes instead of applying the facility to enhance discoveries, make communication faster and easier, increase productivity and store and retrieve data easily and faster. The statement said: "Globally, it is estimated that between one and five billion dollars are lost annually to cyber criminals and Africa is prepared to play a crucial role in fighting cyber crime in and outside the continent." It called on the academia and civil society groups working in the area of criminology, criminal law and cyber crime prevention to link their work with ACCP towards the fight against the menace. The statement said the Centre sought to deal with organized crime, international civil co-operation, child pornography on the internet and cyber terrorism. Other areas are cyber law, information security, online tax fraud, cyber fraud, consumer protection, e-signature and cyber crime prevention. The statement advised countries and international agencies to interface with service providers and other entities in the private sector to ensure crucial cooperation and the formulation of effective security policies. The UNAFRI Research and Policy Development Adviser, Dr Maicibi Alhas said that the ACCP had demonstrated that Africa was prepared to solve cyber crimes. He called on African countries to ensure international cooperation with law enforcement authorities and the media to eliminate cyber fraud. Dr Alhas commended Ghana Media Advocacy Programme, a child-rights non-governmental organisation, for collaborating with the media to ensure that government ratified the International Cyber Crime protocol to accelerate the call for legislation on cyber crime in Ghana. The ACCP was founded and launched in Uganda on the 15th August this year by UNAFRI and the International Association of Cyber Crime and Cyber Law, as a facility of excellence for research and training in Information and Communication Technology, cyber law and cyber crime prevention.