TECHDIGEST – Cybersafe Foundation said it has achieved its four-months set target to digitally equip vulnerable girls across Nigeria as the non-governmental organization (NGO) rounded up its training, codenamed ‘DigiGirls Cohort 1.’

The initiative was funded by the UKaid and UK Government through its Prosperity Fund Digital Access Programme.

ALSO READ : Cybersecurity Woman Of The Year: Staveley Emerges First Nigerian Finalist

Cybersafe Foundation hosted the graduation of several girls from across Nigeria after an intensive four mouths digital exposure on the International Women’s Day.

The training was designed by the NGO as part of efforts to improve digital literacy for girls in Nigeria and across Africa.

During the training, participants were exposed to computing and cybersecurity fundamentals, and digital entrepreneurship skills. Upon choosing a desired career path, participants were taken through an appropriate learning path to get hands-on skills, mentorship, and get internship/job shadowing opportunities.

A beneficiary of DigiGIrls 1.0 Cohort, Miss Adeoye Oluwadamilola explained how the programme helped her to become a boss of her own. She said “I got a website job to design and I was paid N110,000. Yet, before this programme, I couldn’t even operate a computer.”

Adeoye, who studied User Interface and User Experience, UIUE, revealed she was a teacher in a private school where she was earned N15,000 monthly before the programme.

Chioma Okere, another beneficiary of the training told IT Edge News that the experience was a life changer as it helped her to improve her digital skills.

Speaking on the project, the Founder and Executive Director, Cybersafe Foundation, Confidence Staveley, thanked UKAID and trainers for aligning with the Foundation to empower the participants, adding that through the ‘DigiGIrls cohort 1’, several people were educated on digital skills.

Staveley who was visibly elated by the growing testimonials from participants, said, “the impact has been massive and we are prepared to sustain the tempo till the end of the year.

Commenting on the project, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, said young girls must be encouraged to have interest in STEM, and other strategic areas of life because women in Nigeria and globally still face huge challenges and denied their rightful place in politics, governance, business, arts and others.

“The problem number one is women not having enough role models in senior positions, particularly in politics, Sadly, we saw in the constitution amendment, some very good proposals to include women in some strategic positions in politics being rejected by men. Until we break this barrier and enable women to take leadership positions in politics, there won’t be enough role models for girls to aspire and see that they too can break barriers.

“UK government is supporting women in politics, which is one strand of our work and the DigiGirls we are funding is another form of support. It is UK Aid backed and the Prime Minister today, launched International Women’s Day programme for Africa and other developing countries. It is a £20 million investment to partner with business to give young girls the skills they need so that they can take up leadership role in business, politics, climate change and the rest,” Laing stated.

The DigiGirls cohort 2 application is on and will close by 27th March 2022.

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TECH DIGEST – Founder of a non-governmental organisation, Cybersafe Foundation, Confidence Staveley, has been announced one of the finalists at the Cybersecurity Woman of the Year Award 2021.

Staveley is not just the first Nigerian to become a finalist but also the first African to be a finalist in her category, Cybersecurity People’s Choice.

The Cybersecurity Woman of the Year Award is an annual event celebrating female cybersecurity leaders changing the world, hosted by Intelgenca.

Winners of each category will be revealed at the Cybersecurity Woman of the Year 2021 Awards GALA, scheduled to hold in Las Vegas on August 3rd, 2021.

Staveley’s global industry recognition comes on the heels of the outstanding contribution she is making through her organization, Cybersafe Foundation.

The Cybersafe Foundation is a Non-Governmental Organization on a mission to facilitate pockets of human behavioral and capacity changes to ensure a safer internet for everyone with digital access and resident in Africa.

Speaking on the nomination, a member of the advisory board at Cybersafe Foundation, Iretioluwa Akerele called on Nigerians to support her to finally win the medals.

She said, “Confidence needs your vote to win in her category and bring this award home from Las Vegas and also urged Nigerians to visit the website and vote for her.

She explained that through her various interventions on a safer internet, Confidence recently launched CyberGirls, a free 1-year fellowship designed to equip girls with globally sought-after cybersecurity skills, positioning them to start a career in cybersecurity. Through the CyberGirls fellowship, she is training more than100 girls in Calabar, Enugu, Lokoja, Yola, Kaduna and Ibadan.

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TECH DIGEST – The British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, has announced £22 million of new investment to build cyber security resilience in developing countries and globally, particularly in Africa and the Indo-Pacific.

In a speech delivered at the National Cyber Security Centre’s CyberUk conference recently, Raab announced that the UK would spend about £3 million of the £22 million funding to help Interpol set up a new team that will fight cybercrime in Africa. Nigeria was listed as part of the African countries to benefit from the fund.

The new Interpol desk would work across Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda, creating a regional strategy to support joint operations against cybercrime, and strengthen African states’ capability to combat the crime and those behind it.

Since 2018 the UK has been actively partnering Nigeria to support the development of cyber security policies and strategies. Both countries share an ambition to create a safe and secure digital community that provides opportunities for Nigerian citizens and promotes peaceful engagement in cyberspace that enhances national prosperity.

The launch in February this year by President Muhammadu Buhari of the new Nigerian National Cyber Security Policy and Strategy (NCPS) 2021, followed well-targeted UK-funded technical assistance through the UK’s Digital Access Programme.

That programme has also funded a project to up-skill Small Medium and Enterprises (SMEs) across Nigeria on cyber basics, which was delivered through the NGO CyberSafe Foundation.

The UK Department of International Trade (UK DIT) recently also hosted a virtual event for Nigerian stakeholders interested in cyber security for the financial services sector.

According to a statement released by UK’s Embassy in Nigeria, “The current development is a part of the UKs ambition to build global cyber resilience. We see Nigeria and Africa as a whole as an important partner in this.

“With some of the fastest growing economies in the world, Africa has become a target for opportune cybercriminals. By creating a central coordination desk within Interpol that law enforcement across Africa can use, the UK hopes to improve collaboration across borders to advance intelligence sharing, and ultimately stop the perpetrators of cybercrime in Nigeria and across Africa.”

Speaking at the conference of security experts, the Foreign Secretary outlined that the UK wanted to act as a responsible cyber power, as well as working with other countries to shape cyberspace in line with UK’s values.

Raab said the UK was also making around £22 million of new investment available to support capacity building in cyber security for developing countries and globally.

Delivering the speech, Raab said: “We are working with like-minded partners to make sure that the international order that governs cyber activity is fit for purpose.

“Our aim should be to create a cyberspace that is free, open, peaceful and secure, which benefits all countries and all people.

“We want to see international law respected in cyberspace, just like anywhere else. And we need to show how the rules apply to these changes in technology, the changes in threats, and the systemic attempts to render the internet a lawless space.”

Also, Interpol’s Secretary General, Jürgen Stock said: “With more than 4.5 billion people online, more than half of humanity is at risk of falling victim to cybercrime at any time, requiring a unified and strong response.

“The UK support for Interpol’s cyber initiative in Africa underlines its commitment to this fight and will be an important piece of the global security architecture to combat cybercrime.”

Cybercrime is one of the most prolific forms of international crime, with damages set to cost the global economy $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, according to recent report.

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