Telecom
Africa Must Build Its Own Cybersecurity Intelligence, Says Tizel CEO At AfriTech 5.0
As Africa edges toward an estimated 750 million internet users by the end of 2025, the continent’s expanding digital footprint is increasingly matched by vulnerabilities that threaten its economic and national security.
Happiness Obioha, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tizel Cybersecurity
This concern took centre stage at the Africa Tech Alliance Forum (AfriTech 5.0), where Happiness Obioha, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tizel Cybersecurity, delivered one of the event’s most compelling arguments for a new cybersecurity paradigm rooted in African intelligence rather than foreign technology.
Speaking on the theme “Beyond Firewalls: The Case for Homegrown Cybersecurity Intelligence in Africa,” Obioha maintained that Africa’s cybersecurity risks cannot be effectively mitigated with imported solutions that were never designed for the continent’s distinct digital realities.
She described Africa’s cyber landscape as one defined by unique threat actors, infrastructural limitations, cultural nuances, and business patterns that global security platforms often fail to understand.
According to her, relying solely on perimeter-based defenses such as firewalls is no longer adequate in a world where cyberattacks grow more adaptive, persistent, and sophisticated.
Obioha argued that Africa’s dependence on generic global tools has created a critical gap in the continent’s ability to detect, interpret, and respond to emerging threats, and explained that foreign cybersecurity systems frequently misread local attack patterns or fail to anticipate region-specific vulnerabilities.
As a result, many African organizations operate with a false sense of safety while facing increasingly complex threats ranging from ransomware and financial fraud to targeted breaches on government infrastructure.
The Tizel CEO emphasised that Africa’s long-term security lies in adopting intelligence-led approaches that draw from local insights, indigenous expertise, and continental research, and noted that such solutions allow faster and more precise threat detection because they are built with an understanding of local behaviour patterns and digital environments.
Beyond security improvements, she stressed that homegrown cybersecurity also strengthens national sovereignty, reduces capital flight, expands technical capacity, and creates jobs in one of the world’s fastest-growing sectors.
Obioha cited Tizel Cybersecurity as an example of what locally grounded innovation can achieve, explaining that the company’s model integrates contextual intelligence, real-time monitoring, rapid incident response, and strict adherence to regulatory frameworks.
According to her, Tizel’s work with banks, telecom operators, government agencies, and SMEs demonstrates the measurable impact of Africa-specific cybersecurity architecture.
Among the results she highlighted were the prevention of a major ransomware attack in the financial sector, a significant reduction in network downtime for a telecom operator, and the deployment of effective real-time monitoring systems for a government agency.
She reinforced that Tizel’s success is built on its deep understanding of the African digital ecosystem, a familiarity she described as indispensable for delivering cybersecurity that genuinely protects African institutions.
The region’s business culture, infrastructural diversity, and evolving digital habits, she said, can only be accurately interpreted by experts who operate within the same environment.
Obioha urged African enterprises and governments to take a more deliberate approach toward securing their digital future, and encouraged them to re-examine their cybersecurity posture, invest in indigenous intelligence-driven solutions, and build internal teams equipped to respond to emerging threats.
The survival and competitiveness of African businesses, she noted, will increasingly depend on their ability to align security strategies with the realities of the continent’s rapidly evolving digital economy.
“Africa’s digital future is promising,” she concluded, “but it must be secured with intelligence and innovation that come from within the continent.”
Dr Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s minister of communications, innovation, and digital economy, has revealed that the federal government’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme has trained over 135,000 citizens as it moves from pilot to national level.
Tijani announced this in an update on the program’s success, stating that the beneficiaries were trained in three batches.
He also stated that the initiative’s community-based learning tools had provided over 300,000 extra learners with access to digital skills training across the country.
According to the minister, the program has also enabled the creation of about 15,000 job, entrepreneurship, and career development in Nigeria’s developing digital economy.
He further revealed that more than 1.8 million Nigerians are currently in the 3MTT pipeline, as the government works toward its target of equipping three million citizens with in-demand digital skills aligned with local and global labour market needs.
As the programme enters its scale-up phase, Tijani said the government’s focus will shift toward deepening impact rather than just expanding numbers.
Key priorities, he explained, include strengthening the 3MTT alumni community, widening access to economic opportunities and ensuring that skills acquired through the programme translate into measurable outcomes such as jobs, business creation and innovation.
To support this phase, the federal government has introduced the #3MTTImpactChallenge, an initiative aimed at assessing the programme’s real-world impact
Through the challenge, fellows and partners are invited to share personal stories on how 3MTT has shaped their professional journeys as part of a National Impact Reflection exercise.
Participants are expected to share their experiences across social media platforms, with selected winners set to receive prizes including laptops, e-tablets, data bundles and other incentives.
Spacecoin, US-based, has announced the signing of recent agreements with local authorities and operators to launch satellite connectivity pilot projects in Africa.
The initiatives, focused on Kenya and Nigeria, aim to serve areas where terrestrial networks remain limited or unavailable.
n Kenya, Spacecoin has obtained a transmission license from the Communications Authority, allowing it to test satellite-based solutions for connectivity and Internet of Things (IoT) monitoring, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas with limited internet access.
According to the Kenyan regulator, internet penetration remains below 50% of the population, despite mobile penetration exceeding 130%.
In parallel, the company is continuing operations in Nigeria under an existing license issued by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
This authorization supports initiatives aimed at delivering affordable broadband connectivity to isolated and underserved communities.
Spacecoin’s approach is based on a decentralized satellite network using nanosatellites in low Earth orbit (LEO).
Combined with blockchain-based protocols, this architecture is intended to offer more flexible and cost-effective connectivity services than traditional networks, while also enabling the integration of IoT solutions for a range of uses, from smart agriculture to infrastructure monitoring.
These projects are part of a broader strategy to help narrow Africa’s digital divide, where a significant share of the population still lacks access to reliable internet services.
Satellite technology is increasingly viewed as a complement to terrestrial infrastructure, particularly in hard-to-reach areas where deployment costs and geographic constraints remain high.
Beyond Africa, Spacecoin is also running pilot projects in Asia, working with local partners to test the viability of its model across different regulatory and geographic environments.
According to the company’s management, growing interest from regulators reflects a shift toward solutions capable of reaching populations that have long been excluded from internet access.
AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software, driving digital transformation and sustainability, today announces the appointment of Khaled Salah, 37 years old, as Vice President of Africa.
Khaled Salah
In this new role, he will be responsible for about 30 employees to ensure the successful implementation of AVEVA’s growth strategy. Khaled Salah will report directly to Jesus Hernandez, SVP of the EMEA region.
A 15-years + career across different industries and domains
With a MBA in management from the Warwick business school, UK, and a master’s degree in engineering from Ain Shams university in Egypt, Khaled Salah is an active advocate for driving sustainable progress in the industrial sector. With Sustainability in mind, Khaled is keen on making a positive business impact, while fostering progress for people and the planet.
He started his career at Schneider Electric, in 2013 in the global supply chain and evolved through various roles such as Europe procurement and supply chain strategy Manager, and Global Commercial strategy Director for the industrial automation business. Khaled Salah has developed a strategic understanding of all those fields.
After 12 years in Schneider Electric, Khaled joined AVEVA in 2022 to lead AVEVA and Schneider Electric global strategic partnership, across all industries managing a team of 30 people.
He has led the introduction of new AVEVA software solutions to initiate and develop significant growth areas across all Schneider Electric verticals.
Ambitious plans for AVEVA in Africa
In addition to his current role as AVEVA and Schneider Electric partnership Vice-President, Khaled now takes over the management of AVEVA’s activities in Africa.
Jesus Hernandez, SVP of the EMEA region says: “Africa is a strategic region for AVEVA. In this major industrial market, customers, world leaders in the fields of Energy, Metal & Mining, Chemicals, and Water, are looking for AVEVA’s expertise to accelerate and drive their digital transformation and sustainability strategies, as well as their energy transition projects.
“Khaled Salah’s qualities of leadership in a global environment will benefit his team spread across 12 countries including Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.”
Motivated by the prospect of capitalizing on the talent of his team to strengthen AVEVA’s presence in Africa in the years to come, Khaled Salah says: “Helping my team realize their professional potential is close to my heart.
“We will work together to support and accelerate the digital transformation of industries in Africa, in particular through CONNECT, our industrial intelligence platform, with the support of our ecosystem of partners. »
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