Interview with Didier SIMBA as part of the African Cybersecurity Conference

As part of the very upcoming organization of the African conference on cybersecurity in Gabon, Africa Cybersecurity Mag had an interview with Didier SIMBA , President of cesia (CLUB OF EXPERTS OF INFORMATION SECURITY IN AFRICA) , Founder & Commissioner General of the African Conference on Cybersecurity .

Africa CyberSecurity Mag: For the first in Africa will be held a meeting on CyberSecurity, tell us what this great meeting consists of?

Didier SIMBA : The AFRICAN CYBERSECURITY CONFERENCE aims to be the annual meeting at the start of the year with a continental vocation. It's more than 300 guests from about fifteen countries in Africa who travel to Libreville, the capital of Gabon for 2 days of exchanges and sharing.

This first edition is organized by the CESIA which I have the honor to represent as president with the support of the SING - Société d'Incubation Numérique du Gabon and the Chamber of Commerce of Gabon . Our guests are also professionals in the sector, but these conferences are aimed at a wider audience from the public and private sectors. Moreover, this year we have chosen the theme: “ THE RESILIENCE OF COMPANIES AND STATES ”

Africa CyberSecurity Mag: What are the specificities of the AFRICAN CYBERSECURITY FOUNDATIONS compared to other cyber events taking place on the continent?

Didier SIMBA : The AAC have a dual objective, namely

• On the one hand, we want to raise public and private sector players' awareness of cybersecurity issues, as is done almost everywhere on the continent. The goal is to popularize to a wider audience: companies, governments, but also and above all to create specific skills in Gabon through what we call the HACKING CHAMPIONS, a hacking competition for all audiences with the aim of objective to build skills on technical issues of cybersecurity and why not, for companies, to detect their future employee, why not?
• On the other hand, we want to go further by proposing concrete solutions. In other words, during these CONFERENCES, we bring together a population of actors with needs, it could be security professionals as well as decision-makers, members of governments and a population of actors proposing security solutions, companies offering security software or services.

In the very long term, the AFRICAN CYBERSECURITY FOUNDATIONS would make it possible to highlight African know-how in the field of cybersecurity.

Africa CyberSecurity Mag: The AFRICAN CYBERSECURITY SESSION should be held from February 24 to 25, 2022. The event has been postponed for the month of April. Can you explain to us the reasons for this postponement?

Didier SIMBA : As I said above, we are expecting more than 300 guests and many visitors from all over the world. Given the health situation linked to COVID-19, we had put health security at the heart of our organization in order to guarantee the good performance of our.

That said, the Gabonese authorities have decided to extend the state of emergency for 45 days and in accordance with the directives communicated by the public authorities and the Ministry of Communication and the Digital Economy which supports our event, we have taken the decision to postpone THE AFRICAN CYBERSECURITY CONFERENCE which will now take place from April 14 and 15, 2022 .

Africa CyberSecurity Mag: The AFRICAN CYBERSECURITY CONFERENCE will be held in Gabon. Why the choice of Gabon to host this first edition and how to take part in the event next April?

Didier SIMBA : In the sub-region and mainly in Central Africa, Gabon has been a major player or an accelerator of digital transformation. Indeed, a project initiated by Gabon in 2018 has enabled Gabon, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea to be interconnected by fiber and to go further by allowing people in rural areas to benefit from high-speed Internet.
After the digital transformation, digital security becomes an issue and it therefore seemed logical to us to offer a space for exchange in the country in order to share digital security issues or cybersecurity in the sub-region.

To take part, all you have to do is register via our website www.lesassisesafricaines-cybersecurite.com and you will receive all our communications. For any specific questions, our team will answer you by email at contact@lesassisesafricaines-cybersecurite.com .

Africa CyberSecurity Mag: As an actor, publisher, specialist in the private or public sector in cybersecurity, how can you become a partner, sponsor of this first edition of the AFRICAN CYBERSECURITY SESSION?

Didier SIMBA : Whether you want to publicize or strengthen your brand image, the products and services of your institution, have access to our distinguished guests and to the public, meet the actors from the private and public sectors who are interested in the challenges of cybersecurity in Africa or simply discover innovations in digital security, then you can become a partner or sponsor of these AFRICAN CYBERSECURITY FOUNDATIONS. Contact us at: sponsoring@lesassisesafricaines-cybersecurite.com

The editorial staff of Africa CyberSecurity Mag