2023-04-17 17:15:53
The MPLA Government will create a cybersecurity academy, in Luanda, to face the “very large deficit” of staff in this area, the Angolan Minister of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Social Communication said today. In 2019, Bornito de Sousa already guaranteed that the Government was building an important cybersecurity pole…
Mário Oliveira said, in a press conference held to announce the holding, in Luanda on the 10th of May, of the 1st Forum on Cybersecurity, the installation of a cybersecurity academy, which aims at certifying young Angolan recent graduates in what comes to tools related to cybersecurity.
“Science that, unfortunately, in our country we still have a very large deficit of staff in this matter”, said the minister.
According to Mário Oliveira, the creation of a Cybersecurity academy will allow the training of several young people and their placement in the market, with a view to guaranteeing security to the national cyber space.
“Because we understand that this is the only way we will in fact be making a great contribution so that in the very near future we can have our networks safe, because it is of no use to us having laws that oblige entities to adhere to this or that, to punish this or that. that non-compliance, there is no point in having only technology by itself”, he stressed.
The Angolan official underlined that “there is great concern with regard to training staff in this matter”, noting that the “academy will be set up in partnership with a dedicated company with some experience in this matter”.
According to the minister, there are already other academies in Luanda, namely at the Telecommunications Institute, where Cisco, Huawei and Microsoft academies are located.
“It is adding value to what we already have today and what we have been doing over all these years”, he said.
And cybersecurity with intercontinental missiles?
A Angolan Finance Minister Vera Daves warned on July 30, 2021 of the vulnerability of Angolan banking to cyber attacks, urging banks to invest more in the security of technological systems.
At the time, it was thought that the solution would involve asking for the help of the then Commander of the National Police of the MPLA, Paulo de Almeida, namely with the use of his world famous intercontinental missiles. But not.
Vera Daves, who was speaking at the opening of the XI Banca Forum, organized by the newspaper Expansão, noted that the country was gradually witnessing the entry of new operators into the financial system – the so-called ‘fintech’ – which brought threats and opportunities with enormous disruptive potential.
For the minister, they might contribute to more Angolans accessing banking services, since in terms of banking services for the population, Angola was “very far from desirable”.
“The challenge is to be innovative and, given our geographic and demographic circumstances, we understand that it is through the digitization of banking services that we will get there in the medium term”, he considered. Undoubtedly. In a country with 20 million poor people, it is essential that everyone who daily frequents the people’s stores (aka, dumps) created by the MPLA, make use of digitization. Not the digitization of banking services (which they don’t know what it is), but the digitization of hunger.
The minister noted, however, that digital solutions entail new risks and left an appeal for “full attention” to be given to the security of the technological systems of all banks in the market.
“We cannot be vulnerable to cyberattacks and the impact that this has on the entire Angolan financial system, a threat that has been recurrent in our country”, he underlined, adding that “it is naive to think that there are cheap solutions to problems that cause or may cause incalculable losses”.
The minister pointed out, in her speech, some positive results for the financial system – namely the constitutional revision that will allow greater independence for the central bank and reinforce its role, as well as the new law on financial institutions – but stressed that the bank has also to provide greater support to the private sector.
He also stressed that the executive’s fiscal policy would continue to be guided by the objective of preserving and strengthening the sustainability of public accounts, seeking “the best harmony” between the financial balance of public finances and its effectiveness in terms of contribution to growth. economic.
“We are aware of how difficult this balance can be and how precarious until all the variables are consolidated: basic education, employment, qualification of human capital, production of food products, diversification of exports and better distribution of income”, added Vera Daves.
The head of Finance also indicated that there was a need to develop a strategy to determine the appropriate degree of State participation in the banking sector, to circumscribe the fiscal risks of this participation and to limit political interference.
In short, “increasing banking efficiency and improving governance and credit risk management”, said the minister.
It should be recalled that in May 2019, the National Bank of Angola considered the continuity of its activity to be of paramount importance for the Angolan economy and society, having assumed the commitment to protect the Bank, reducing the probability of occurrence of disruptive incidents and preparing to respond to these incidents, ensuring the continuity of its critical functions through a Business Continuity Management System (BCMS).
In this context, and as part of the Communication Plan for disclosing the 2nd cycle of the implementation of the SGCN, Banco Nacional de Angola, in line with the recommendation of the Committee of Governors of Central Banks of SADC, held the “Week of Awareness of Business Continuity” (Business Continuity Awareness Week – 2019), under the theme “Investing in Resilience”, in line with the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) – the international entity promoting the event.
For this purpose, activities were carried out with a view to sharing, with BNA workers, the importance of investing in human capital, communications and cybersecurity, so that the BNA becomes an increasingly resilient institution.
Thus, on May 14, 2019, in the auditorium Saidy Mingas – Museu da Moeda, an internal workshop was held, where the themes were addressed: “Investment in human capital as a guarantee of institutional resilience”, “Investing in the resilience of communications ” and “Investing in cybersecurity for a more resilient institution”.
The Business Continuity Management System (SGCN) aims to protect the reputation and image of solidity and trust of the BNA, ensuring the continuity of functions critical to its mission and fulfilling the expectations of the entities of the Angolan and International Financial System, of the State and other interested parties.
In turn, on June 18, 2019, the then vice-president, Bornito de Sousa, said in Luanda that the investments made by Angola in telecommunications will remain “strong” and that they already constitute a “reference” in the Sub-Saharan Africa.
Bornito de Sousa was speaking at the opening of the International Information Technologies Forum, Angotic Angola 2019, an event that took place at the Talatona Convention Center, on behalf of the head of state, João Lourenço, whose presence was planned, but ended up being changed at the last minute .
According to Bornito de Sousa, the Government had a vast modernization program under way in the context of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), an investment that would soon allow the arrival of “5G”, following the consolidation of “3G” and of “4G”.
“We will continue to invest in broadband infrastructure, through fiber optics, in April Angola Cables completed the submarine cable between Cabo Ledo [130 quilómetros a sul de Luanda] and fortress [Brasil]with connection to Miami [Estados Unidos da América]satellite coverage [a Airbus está a construir o Angosat-3]. We are improving the digital world in Angola”, said Bornito de Sousa.
The intention, he continued, is to make Angola a “platform for technological modernization on the African continent”, similar to what is being done in Rwanda, with the technological inclusion policies of the Rwandan President, Paul Kagamé.
“We are creating technology parks, promoting scientific research, we have already created SETI, an administrative modernization program aimed at eliminating bureaucracy, and increasing the use of the Internet in schools and public spaces”, he underlined, highlighting the important pole of the cybersecurity, which is at the heart of the Angolan executive’s strategic concerns.
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