How Closely Linked are Cybersecurity, Climate Change in Africa?

At a recent Africa cyber dialogue workshop hosted by South Africa's international relations department and The Netherlands' foreign affairs ministry, some parallels were drawn between the complex issues of climate change and cyberspace. If left unaddressed, both have existential consequences for Africa's economic development,  writes Karen Allen for The Institute for Security Studies.

As with climate change, cyberspace may seem remote in many parts of Africa where unemployment and poverty compete for policy attention. Yet the way climate resilience has been elevated may offer lessons in trumpeting the cyberspace agenda.

The KwaZulu-Natal floods that prompted a World Weather Attribution initiative study linking the heavy rainfall to climate change may have been a salutary reminder to South Africans of the realities of global warming.

Similarly, 2021's ransomware attack on the South African state logistics company Transnet should have stopped policymakers in their tracks and pushed cybersecurity up the agenda. The country is ranked third worldwide for the highest number of cybercrime victims, and ransomware incidents are rising.

The coining of the phrase 'climate emergency' by lobbyists has imbued the issue with a sense of urgency. Clear messaging can be a powerful catalyst for action. That urgency is also needed in addressing cybersecurity in Africa, but arguably the language isn't there yet.