As the rapid digital transformation exposes users to cyber threats across Africa, authorities are taking steps to secure the cyberspace, recognizing the crucial role of cybersecurity in fostering sustainable development. 

Benin’s parliament on Tuesday approved a law for the ratification of the Malabo Convention on cybersecurity and personal data protection. This move empowers the Beninese government to effectively tackle cybercrime.

The Malabo Convention, aimed at bolstering and harmonizing the ICT legislation of African nations and Regional Economic Communities, became crucial in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which spurred digital transformation across the continent. The convention, which respects fundamental freedoms and human rights, came into effect last October after ratification by Mauritania.

With this ratification, Benin joins 15 other African states that have ratified the convention since its adoption in 2014 in Equatorial Guinea. It will therefore enable the enforcement of that convention as per its Article 36, which requires ratification by at least 15 countries before that implementation.  The countries that ratified it before Benin include Angola, Togo, Senegal, Rwanda, Namibia, Niger, Mauritius, Mozambique, Ghana, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cape Verde, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, and Mauritania.

Benin’s parliamentarians also ratified the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, providing an international framework for practitioners in the States Parties to collaborate and establish relations for cooperation in specific cases, especially emergencies, beyond the specific provisions of the Convention.

Adoni Conrad Quenum