Story by Panashe Nagoli
GOVERNMENT has intensified efforts to strengthen national cyber defence systems as part of its broader digitisation agenda, with renewed focus on skills development, infrastructure enhancement, and international cooperation in cybersecurity.
In October last year, Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services and the Russian Zim Consortium under the CyberZim Programme, aimed at advancing cybersecurity training, cooperation, and infrastructure development.
This Monday, ICT, Postal and Courier Services Minister, Honourable Tatenda Mavetera, presented certificates to graduates of the programme.
“We want to appreciate the government for this programme where we learnt critical components of cybersecurity, which will go a long way in advancing our systems to match global standards,” a graduate said.
“The programme took us into the mind of the hacker, to understand how they attack and how best we can set up defence systems for the country because every site is a potential attack point, so we need to invest in data protection,” a participant said.
The Chief Executive Officer of RedZone CyberZim, which was the implementing partner, outlined how the programme assists in upskilling Zimbabwe’s cybersecurity specialists.
“The course included teaching these IT professionals how best to defend the Zimbabwean systems against all forms of digital terror attacks at all levels through a high-level compilation of all the 438 common cyber-attacks found in Africa,” CEO Redzone CyberZim, Mr Samir Popatlal said.
Russian Ambassador to Zimbabwe His Excellency Nikolai Krasilnikov said Moscow stands ready to continue collaborating with Zimbabwe in the cybersecurity space.
“The Russian Federation is ready to collaborate at any point with Zimbabwe in strengthening cybersecurity. We received the AI strategy, and there are a lot of areas of collaboration we will explore,” he said.
As government intensifies its digitisation efforts, the Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services highlighted how government has put in a framework to enhance cybersecurity.
“These are not mere certificates, but they are a key to open doors in strengthening the country’s cybersecurity space, and as government we will ensure that employment is guaranteed for you,” Honourable Tatenda Mavetera said.
Last month, President Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa launched Zimbabwe’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy, which will go a long way in complementing government digitisation efforts towards an upper middle-income society by 2030.
