ALTHOUGH Tanzania ranks second after Mauritius in guaranteeing a high level of cybersecurity in Africa, the country needs more efforts to maintain the position.

This came to light in Arusha city yesterday during the third Cybersecurity Tanzania Forum, organized by the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Commission.

Dr Nkundwe Mwasaga, Director General of ICT Commission, said at the moment all government transactions and communication systems have gone digital and connected online which means the issue of security is of paramount importance.

So far, only 15 African countries including Tanzania, have a level of cybersecurity preparedness above the global average. Mauritius has remained the leader on the continent since 2014.

Tanzania is now holding the second position after climbing up gradually from number eight then taking the third position and eventually now slotted at number two ahead of Egypt which is also working hard to top the continental bill.

Tanzania is so far the most cyber secure country in the entire east, central and southern African region, beating digital giants like Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.

Chairperson of ICT Commission Prof Leonard Mselle said cybersecurity platforms are useful in bringing together experts in the field to hatch better ways of ensuring their digital platforms remain firewalled from increasing threats of attacks.

The event runs under the theme of ‘Charting shared and inclusive future in cybersecurity.’

It was observed that about 20 countries on the continent still have a basic cybersecurity level. These include DRC, Burundi, Equatorial Guinea and Djibouti that are already connected to more than eight submarine fibre optic systems.

According to Verified Market Research, the Middle East and Africa cybersecurity market which was valued at $5.92 billion in 2018 is expected to reach $17.30 billion by 2026.

On the other hand, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Google estimate in their joint report that the digital sector could generate $180 billion in revenue for the African economy by 2025 and $ 712 billion by 2050.

However the joint report points out that if things continue as they are, the poor reliability of African digital platforms, coupled with threats of cyberattacks, could jeopardize this promising prospect.