• Mozambique and Togo signed a cybersecurity cooperation MoU covering CSIRT capacity building, threat information-sharing and regional cyber-resilience.
• The move aligns with a continent-wide rise in cyber threats, with Interpol estimating over $3 billion in losses in Africa between 2019 and 2024.
• Both countries recently joined the UN Convention on Cybercrime, among 21 African signatories.

African governments continue to intensify their cybersecurity efforts, which the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) considers essential to the success of national digital-transformation strategies.

Mozambique and Togo agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation on cybersecurity and digital resilience. The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on 17 November during the opening of the first Mozambique International Cybersecurity Week Conference in Maputo.

The document sets four priority areas: enhancing the technical and operational capacities of both national CSIRTs; sharing information on emerging threats and vulnerabilities; promoting exchanges of knowledge, experience and best practices; and contributing to the cyber-resilience of Mozambique, Togo and the broader African region.

Lourino Chemane, chairman of Mozambique’s National ICT Institute (INTIC), said: “The signing of this agreement reinforces Mozambique’s commitment to collaborate with other African countries to ensure a safer, more reliable and more inclusive cyberspace.” He added that in a global environment marked by increasingly complex and interconnected threats, CSIRT collaboration and information-sharing remain essential for effective and coordinated action.

The partnership comes as African countries show growing interest in cybersecurity. It coincides with accelerated ICT adoption and broader digital-transformation efforts, which have been accompanied by a rise in cybercrime. Mozambique and Togo were among the 21 African countries that signed the UN Convention on Cybercrime in late October in Hanoi, Vietnam. Interpol estimates that cyber incidents caused more than $3 billion in financial losses across Africa between 2019 and 2024.

In this context, the ITU urges countries to invest significantly in cybersecurity to fully benefit from the opportunities offered by ICT.

According to the Global Cybersecurity Index, Togo ranks in Tier 2, just below global benchmark countries. The West African state performs strongly in regulation, cooperation, organisational measures and capacity development but still needs to reinforce its technical measures.

Mozambique ranks in Tier 3, with room for improvement in legal, technical and capacity-development measures. The country nevertheless shows solid performance in organisational measures and cooperation.

This article was initially published in French by Isaac K. Kassouwi

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum