Kaspersky and AFRIPOL signed a cooperation agreement

On November 18th, 2024, in Algeria, Kaspersky and AFRIPOL signed a 5-year cooperation agreement on preventing and combating cybercrime.

Cybersecurity is one of the most essential challenges in African countries since cybercrimes make public services vulnerable to data leakages and disruptions. Because of the absence of comprehensive cyber governance policies and protection mechanisms, cyberattacks on government agencies and organizations are on the rise in African countries. Among the most affected countries in 2022-2023 were Zambia, Uganda, Ethiopia and Senegal.

To effectively combat cybercrimes there, sharing technologies, knowledge, and experience with international companies is extremely important. Kaspersky is one of the leading cybersecurity providers, also interested in supporting African cybersecurity. In 2023, it opened its Transparency Center in Kigali, Rwanda. Besides, the company has strong presence in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt. The agreement of November 18th is also an important milestone for the African fight with cybercrimes.

The agreement was signed by the company’s CEO, Eugene Kaspersky, and Jalel Chelba, acting executive director of AFRIPOL.\

Under the agreement, Kaspersky will share cyber threat data with AFRIPOL that the organization can use to investigate cybercrime. Kaspersky’s experts will also assist AFRIPOL and share technical knowledge.

As a partner of the Center for African Studies at the HSE University, the company is a participant in the E-Governance Knowledge Sharing Program. As a contributor, Kaspersky participated in the Winter E-Governance Knowledge Sharing Week for African officials in 2023 and is still in close cooperation with the Center.

To learn more analytics about cybersecurity challenges in Africa and how to resolve them, please, visit our website’s African Countries E-Gov Challenges & Solutions section. There is also a Handbook on E-Governance in Africa prepared by the team of experts and researchers of the Center. It provides a vast analysis to the progress made by Africans in the field of digitalization of public administration, and also pays attention to cybersecurity issue.