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Sunday, May 10, 2015 

Rwanda raises cyber security awareness

KIGALI, Rwanda - The government has come out with a National Cyber- Security policy which covers governance and coordination, but also provides the legal and regulatory environment for the ICT industry. 

The policy also builds on the national cyber security capabilities for prevention, protection and response to threats across institutions.

Jean Philbert Nsengimana , the Minister of Youth and ICT (MYICT), was speaking last week during a cyber-security workshop for financial institutions held in Kigali.

The workshop was organized by MYICT and Rwanda Development Board (RDB). It was part of a two week national awareness campaign on cyber security with sessions being attended by participants from both the private and public sectors.

“The world is going digital, our lifestyle is going digital. We see digitization in different sectors, plus most of the services are going digital, but most importantly and at a faster speed, banks are going digital,” Nsengimana said.

“The 100% digital bank is not far in the future. I think we are going to see banks without any physical presence in the future and I think the competition of the existing banks is going to come from the telecom industry, the retail industry, young innovators from k-lab,” Nsengimana said.

Nsengimana said, “This calls for a completely different understanding of the opportunities, but also the challenges that are emerging today. Security happens to be one of the biggest challenges coming up.”

 “Protection of our critical assets promotes awareness and this is one of the activity that is really right in line with the recently approved policy,” the Minister said.

Cyber security happens to be a financial sector issue much as it is national issue.

John Rwangombwa, the Governor Central Bank of Rwanda said,  “We need stronger security systems around our financial IT systems hence it is key that we sit here as an industry, we work together, exchange ideas, share the challenges, and talk about solutions.”

“As IT continues to develop in financial institutions, which is very important for Rwanda as the country continues to strive for a cashless economy, cyber security issues are also coming in,” the governor said.

Rwangombwa said. “Ministry of Youth and ICT and the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) taking lead to bring together all the key players in the country to think of how best we can protect our IT systems as we move more digital is very important.

Cyber security is a deeply and highly strategic issue, one that is important for the future of Rwanda as the country moves to digitizing its economy.

Mobile financial services in less than five years have continued to develop. In 2013, Rwf350billion was transacted via mobile money on the three telecom networks of the country, in 2014 Rwf691billion was transacted, whereas for the first quarter 2015, Rwf257billion was transacted compared to Rwf115billion for the first quarter 2014. 

This means by the end of this year 2015, over Rwf1000billion will be transferred via mobile money hence a need to tighten cyber security policies.

Beginning of this year 2015, February, BNR received over 23million hackers into its IT system but the bank has developed a strong IT system that allows it to see all such people who try to break into the system.

Nsengimana emphasized the need to have a policy with a standard that is impossible, such as that where banks are subject to financial audits to make sure that the assets of the clients are protected; such as the accounting and management policies which are checked need to be developed.

 “We need to have cyber-security as one critical component and then we can put in place the standards and then we should start seeing banks really making the right investments to meet those standards,” Nsengimana said.

“And if we don’t do that, we should open the possibility of even closing them down. But before we get there I think it is important to clarify what are the policies, what are the standards and what are the enforcement mechanisms that are in place,” the Minister said.

The meeting brought together IT professionals from banks, other financial institutions, from IT institutions among others from across the country.

Cyber security threats are global and real and therefore it is key for industries to sit together and discuss the challenges present.

By Agnes Bateta, Sunday, May 10th, 2015