The Minister of Digital Economy and Telecommunications of Côte d'Ivoire, Roger Adom opened the first edition of Cyber Africa Forum on Monday, June 7, 2021 in Abidjan. On the occasion, the authority revealed that Côte d'Ivoire has recorded in the last ten years 20 billion CFA francs in losses related to cybercrime. the amounts affected, reach 20 billion CFA francs and it is huge, "said to the press, Roger Adom, sponsor of the event. He noted that all citizens are confronted every day with the virtual world, both in the rural and urban worlds. For Africa in general, Franck Kié, Commissioner General of the Cyber Africa Forum, said cybercrime has cost Africa a total of $4 billion in 2020, and cybercriminals' interest in the continent will only grow due to increasing digitalization. exchanges and economic activities as well as the development of the cyber threat. Experts estimate that global spending on cyber security will exceed US$170.4 billion by 2022 and the number of Internet users in Africa is expected to reach "one billion".
IT security challenges in Africa

The development of the digital economy, information and communication technologies are now at the heart of the economic model of multiple sectors and are also becoming essential in our private lives. As a result, issues related to cyber security, cyber defence and cybercrime are increasingly major challenges for our businesses, organisations and states. No ECOWAS Member State escapes the phenomenon of cybercrime and its negative impact on the political, financial and social levels. According to Roger Adom, " it therefore seems essential and crucial to identify and understand the risks we face in our States whose challenges in terms of development are no longer to be presented ".

Placed under the theme "cyber risk at the heart of Africa's challenges", this forum on the challenges of cybercrime has set itself the mission of bringing together the actors (public and private) who make African economies around the challenges of cybersecurity. Awareness-raising is a computer security issue for States. It is in this context that ECOWAS has launched its Cybersecurity Agenda for a holistic and coordinated approach with its Member States to improve cybersecurity and effectively combat cybercrime.