Minister Savannah delivers address at Africa Cybersecurity Indaba

MBABANE-The Africa Cybersecurity Indaba 2026 opened yesterday at The Galleria Conference & Exhibition Centre in Sandton, South Africa, bringing together cybersecurity professionals, industry representatives, researchers and policymakers to discuss cybersecurity priorities and strengthen digital resilience across Africa.

The opening day featured addresses by Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Mondli Gungubele and Deputy Minister in the Presidency Kenny Morolong, who highlighted the importance of collaboration, innovation, skills development, trust and resilience in the digital economy.

The conference continues today, with an address by Eswatini’s Minister of Information, Communications and Technology, Savannah Maziya.

According to a press statement issued by the organisers, Maziya’s address, titled “From National Strategy to Continental Resilience: Building Trusted Digital Nations Across Africa”, will bring a regional perspective to a critical question facing African economies: How can countries strengthen cybersecurity when businesses, financial institutions and public services increasingly depend on interconnected systems that extend beyond national borders?

For businesses, these interdependencies are part of everyday operations. Companies may have safeguards in place to protect their own systems but still rely on external payment providers, telecommunications networks, cloud services and suppliers. A disruption to any of these services can affect operations, undermine customer confidence and threaten business continuity.

The financial implications of cybercrime are also evident in South Africa’s digital banking sector.

The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) reported digital banking losses of R2.4 billion in its 2025 Annual Banking Crime Statistics, compared with approximately R1.9 billion in 2024. Banking app-related crime accounted for more than 70 per cent of reported digital banking losses.

These figures relate specifically to digital banking crime and should not be interpreted as representing the total cost of cybercrime to the South African economy.

The Indaba provides a platform to examine these challenges while exploring the policies, infrastructure and skills needed to strengthen cybersecurity and build greater resilience across the continent.

Today’s programme will also feature Dr Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of Digital Council Africa and Founder and Executive Chairman of Convergence Partners, who is scheduled to address the need for resilient infrastructure in an artificial intelligence-driven future.

Dr Martin Koyabe, Non-Executive Chairman of Kenya’s National Cybersecurity Agency (NCSA), is also scheduled to contribute to the discussions. He brings experience in information and communications technology deployment, cybersecurity policy, research and regulation.

Another key feature of the programme is a panel discussion on the financial ecosystem, which will examine cybercrime, artificial intelligence, digital payments and financial resilience.

Scheduled contributors to the discussion represent Absa, Mastercard, the South African Reserve Bank and Imali Crypto, bringing together perspectives from across the financial services and digital payments sectors.

The wider programme includes participants and perspectives from South Africa, Eswatini, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Ghana, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

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