PRESS RELEASE: AAU PARTNERS WITH LEADING ORGANIZATIONS TO BOOST CLIMATE ADAPTATION RESEARCH CAPACITY IN AFRICA
May 6, 2025
Forging Connections: Pre-General Conference Workshop Highlights Role of Communications and Partnerships in Policy Reforms
July 20, 2025
Pre-Conference Event – 16th AAU General Conference
As cyber threats continue to rise in both complexity and frequency, so must African higher education institutions (HEIs) be equipped with the necessary digital infrastructure, physical structures, and in-depth knowledge to protect the cyber space. With this in mind, the Association of African Universities (AAU), partnering with the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), has organized a two-day transformative learning workshop for ICT Directors from Africa’s HEIs. Organized from July 19 to 20, 2025, this insightful masterclass formed part of AAU’s ongoing 16th Quadrennial General Conference in Rabat, Morocco. Themed Building and Operationalizing Computer Security Incident Response Teams, the workshop convened ICT directors from Africa’s HEIs to learn, collaborate, and most importantly to be equipped with the necessary skills and tools to effectively lead their respective institutions’ cybersecurity initiatives.
In his opening remarks, FIRST’s African Regional Liaison, Eric Akumiah, highlighted the rise of cyber threats and cyber-attacks worldwide and how the Forum, by enhancing cooperation among security teams, was poised to tackle the menace. He revealed the organization’s ongoing efforts under the Africa Cyber Programme, a UK-funded initiative, to support cybersecurity capacity building across the continent.
FIRST’s African Regional Liaison, Eric Akumiah Speaking to the ICT Directors
Following a formal opening of the workshop by AAU’s Partnerships Manager, Mr. Ransford Bekoe, day 1 focused on demystifying CSIRT, and how universities could set up their own internal teams. With a real-life case study of ransomware attack, participants learnt how a single compromised system could take down an entire institutional network and how to use global standards like RFC2350 to formally define their CSIRT profile, including roles, contacts, services, and escalation paths.
Day 2 provided an in-depth appreciation of cybersecurity operations, based on industry frameworks such as NIST and ENISA. Participants also learned how to transition from incident detection to full recovery.
ICT Directors at the Workshop
The workshop equipped the participating ICT Directors from African higher education institutions with a clear roadmap for establishing CSIRT, practical tools and frameworks for incident response, a deeper understanding of threat intelligence and forensics. It also presented a platform to convene a community of like-minded peers for future collaborations and partnerships.
Group Photo of the ICT Directors
The Rabat ICT Directors’ Workshop marks a turning point in the African higher education cybersecurity journey. The partnership between AAU and FIRST, institutional ICT leaders has been critical in empowering the teams with insights and tools to safeguard their digital ecosystems. As more universities formalize their CSIRTs, this initiative can elevate the entire higher education cybersecurity posture across the continent.
