Cybercrime in Ethiopia: Lessons to be Learned from International and Regional Experiences
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Date
2018-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The world has never been more connected as it is now. The number of computers that are interconnected outnumbers the number of people living on the planet. Technology is expanding fast in every corner of the globe and as a result cybercrime has become the necessary evil states have to deal with if they are to reap the benefits of being interconnected. Cybercrime is no longer the problem of the developed world only, as more and more people in the developing world including the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are longing online every day. As countries expand their infrastructure, especially in the field of ICT, their vulnerability to attacks through the cyberspace also increase.
Ethiopia is not an exception to this fact, in the past decade or so it has engaged in vast expansion of telecom infrastructure throughout the country and owing to such expansion, the number of people having access to the internet has risen from a mere couple of thousands in to millions. Different institutions are now relying on the internet to deliver their services including banks, airlines and different sectors of the government. Unfortunately the expansion in the infrastructure has not been matched with equal investment in the fields of security and adequate legislation to govern the area. Ethiopia is among countries that are increasingly becoming victims of cybercrime in Africa and until very recently it did not even have adequate legislation to govern the matter.
There is a universal consensus concerning cybercrime as an increasing threat to the world population as a whole and individual efforts cannot yield the desired results in this interconnected world. Hence various efforts have been introduced collectively at the international as well as regional level that are relevant for countries like Ethiopia to be a part of or gather experience from and this paper tries to analyze such experience in light of the situation in Ethiopia.
The paper gives due emphasis on two efforts by the Council of Europe and the African Union as they are the most relevant both in the international arena and vis-à-vis Ethiopia. It assesses the various features the instruments have and discuss the steps taken by Ethiopia to harmonize its legislation in accordance with such instruments.
As a country that is just opening its eyes to the problem of cybercrime, Ethiopia has a lot to learn from international experience and be part of international efforts aimed at averting or mitigating the risks to cybercrime. The paper will at the end indicate the gaps the Ethiopian legal system has in this regard and the way forward so as to be as safe as possible when it comes
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Cybercrime in Ethiopia