21 youths skilled in Cybersecurity as Cyberweek closes in Nairobi

The event was led by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy, alongside the Kenya School of Government, Ministry of Interior and National Administration, National Cybersecurity Agency and University of Nairobi.

The beneficiaries completed the Huawei Cybersecurity Associate Training Course, where the programme covered network security, cyber threat prevention, firewall security, encryption and decryption technologies, and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificate systems.

The participants received their certificates during the closing ceremony at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), with Huawei Kenya's Director of Policy and Partnerships, Adam Lane, attending the event.

Speaking during the event, Lane said the training was part of broader efforts involving government, private sector players and academic institutions to improve cybersecurity awareness and equip young people with relevant digital skills.

"We've been utilising that to engage and share expertise and information and research to help protect university students and TVET students, to help them be safe online, to help them find out careers in cybersecurity and also share information about training opportunities as well," Lane said.

Lane also highlighted the company's collaboration with the government in training ICT officers in network security, saying partnerships between the public and private sectors were essential in strengthening Kenya's cybersecurity capabilities.

“We are also very glad that in the last 3 weeks we've been working on training these ICT officers sharing with them Huawei's expertise on network security and they have been taking those training programs as well, so I think it really shows the history and the potential for collaboration between government, private sector and also academia to work together in enhancing capabilities for cyber security,” he said.

The fifth edition of Cyberweek Africa, held under the theme “Cyber Threat Intelligence in the Age of AI”, attracted more than 1,200 delegates from 20 countries.

It also featured a youth cybersecurity hackathon supported by Expertise France and the European Union, as well as awareness sessions in 21 institutions of higher learning across the country.

National Cybersecurity Agency Chairman Dr Martin Koyabe called for stronger cooperation between regulators and industry players, emphasising the importance of building trust to facilitate information sharing.

The Cyberweek also featured Huawei Kenya’s Country Cybersecurity and Privacy Officer Kaine Zhang, who highlighted the importance of building capacity of users as well as providing secure products and solutions.

On the other hand, Lu Hao, Huawei Sub-Saharan Africa’s Regional Expert for cybersecurity, also emphasised the need for solutions that interconnect with all other systems to ensure complete visibility and thus enable prevention, detection and rapid response.

Narengo highlighted the opportunities and dangers presented by artificial intelligence.

"AI is a force multiplier, both shield and spear. Threat intelligence is how defenders stay ahead, knowing about the attack before it strikes, so AI can help defenders detect threats in seconds or it can help attackers fake voices, craft convincing scams and target mobile money users," he said.

The conference marked a milestone in Kenya's efforts to strengthen its cybersecurity framework as the country accelerates digital transformation by bringing together government agencies, technology companies, academia and young professionals.