Tomslin Samme-Nlar Nate Allen Rumbi Matamba Matthew La Lime

The downsides of digital revolution: Confronting Africa’s evolving cyber threats

A Talk by Tomslin Samme-Nlar , Dr Matthew La Lime , Dr Nate Allen and Rumbi Matamba

About this Talk

To date, the dominant narrative of Africa’s digital revolution has been one of techno-optimism. The spread of digital technology – from broadband inter- net to biometric identification systems – is frequently cast as a solution to all kinds of political, economic and social ills.

Unfortunately, such simplistic narratives belie a more complex reality. Over the past two decades, Africa has experienced an unprecedented wave of technological diffusion and innovation. At the same time, digitization has done little to enable the continent’s leaders to address many of the core security and governance challenges – from rising conflict to declining democratic liberties – that their countries face.

This is because the impact of technology can never be divorced from the context in which it is used. Africa’s digital revolution carries with it significant potential for benefit, but also enormous downsides, threats and challenges. This report is intended to help achieve a better understanding of these downsides, and to consider how African states, citizens and the international community can work together to address them.

In this webinar the authors of the new GI-TOC report, ‘The Downsides Of Digital Revolution: Confronting Africa’s Evolving Cyber Threats,’ will launch the report and detail how Africa’s digital revolution is impacting and amplifying a broad array of security threats, including organized crime, critical infrastructure sabotage, cyber-espionage and armed conflict innovation.

12 December 2022, 02:00 PM

02:00 PM - 03:30 PM

About The Speakers

Tomslin Samme-Nlar

Tomslin Samme-Nlar

Genesys Telecommunications

Snr. Principal Consultant, Genesys


Matthew La Lime

Dr Matthew La Lime

Academic Associate, Africa Center for Strategic Studies

Academic associate, Africa Center for Strategic Studies


Nate Allen

Dr Nate Allen

Associate Professor of Security Studies, Africa Center for Strategic Studies

Associate Professor, Africa Center for Strategic Studies


Rumbi Matamba

Rumbi Matamba

Analyst, GI-TOC

Analyst, GI-TOC