By Kingsley I. Ilechukwu, Correspondent Lagos

African countries are brimming with potential as investment in technology infrastructure is seen as a very important catalyst for economic and social transformation in the region. This opens doors for an increasing number of cyber risks which can become an obstacle in the path of the total digital transformation in these countries. According to recent reports, phishing and ransomware attacks will continue to be top concerns for this year.

It is of utmost importance for leaders from the cyber security industry from all over Africa come together on one platform to understand the need-of-the-hour for organizations across verticals as cybercrime figures continue to rise in the sub-continent.

With  the foregoing  background, this 4th and 5th of May, one of Africa’s foremost events on cyber security, CyFrica 2021 is virtually providing a platform for experts from the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) – Nigeria, Computer Emergency Response Team of Mauritius (CERT-MU), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations (UN) and more to have insightful discussions on topics such as Cyber Security and post COVID -19, Diplomacy in Cyberspace, Addressing and Embracing the New Normal, Shaping Up Cloud Security, Protection against Big Breaches, etc.

Over the past two editions, numerous experts from the field of IT and cyber security, representing some of the top public and private enterprises from across the sub-continent, came together to share their insights and take part in fruitful networking break-out sessions.

The 3rd Edition of CyFrica is gathering over 2000 IT and cyber security leaders including CISOs, CTOs, CIOs and heads of cyber security from 350+ enterprises, along with the support of 30+ top influential speakers and 20+ global cyber security solution providers – all with a focus on ‘creating a cyber safe Africa’.

Here’s what the stellar speaker line-up for the event looks like-

•             Director general/CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi

•             Head of Reasearch Center META, Kaspersky, Dr. Mohamad Amin Hasbini

•             Director Solutions Engineering IMEA, BeyondTrust, Michael Byrnes

•             Head, Computer Emergency Response Team of Mauritius (CERT-MU) Dr. Kaleem Ahmed Usmani

•             SVP Content Strategy and Evangelist, KnowBe4 Africa, Anna Collard

•             Director of Technology, Darktrace, Andrew Tsonchev

•             CISO, FirstBank Nigeria, Harrison Nnaji

•             Head of Security Engineering – Africa, Check Point Software Technologies, Issam El Haddioui

•             CTO, Tripwire, Dave Meltzer

•             Group Head – Information Security and Network Operations, Dangote Group, Oriyomi Fowler

•            CISO, Emirates NBD, Hisham Mohamed

•             CISO, NPF Microfinance Bank, Philip Aiwekhoe

•             Information Security Officer, United Nations, Collins Oduor

•             Enterprise Cyber Security Advisor, Kaspersky, Lehan van den Heever

•             CISO, World Health Organization, Flavio Aggio

•             Consulting Engineer, Fortinet, Shiraz Valji,

•             VP of Solutions, Securonix, Augusto Barros,

•             Group CIO, Dangote Group, Prasanna Kumar Burri

•             Manager, Systems Engineering, Dell Technologies – DPS Division, V

•             Security Advocate, SentinelOne, Thom Langford

•             Chief Evangelist, ManageEngine, A Karthik

•             Principal Cyber Security Assurance Officer, Safaricom, Joylynn Kirui

•             CRO, Musoni Microfinance, Faheem Ali

•             CISO, Unity Bank, Daniel Adaramola

•             CISO, GT Bank, Bharat Soni

•             Director, Group IT-GRC & Strategy, IHS Towers, Fene Osakwe

Some of the eminent cyber security solution providers from the industry like Kaspersky, Check Point Software, Fortinet, Securonix, KnowBe4, BeyondTrust, Darktrace, Tripwire, Micro Focus, Dell Technologies, SentinelOne, ManageEngine, Redington Value and Acronis have booked virtual booths to showcase their latest solutions at this exclusive virtual conference.

Trusted Media Partner for extensive digital promotions for CyFRICA ’21 is CyberEra Ng.