Namibia is looking to Russia for support in achieving technological independence.
This is according to Audrin Mathe, executive director of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.
Sputnik News hosted an expert roundtable discussion a week ago in Russia, in anticipation of Africa Day.
The event, titled ‘Innovations for Society: Russian-African Dialogue for Africa Day’, brought together experts from Russia, Mali, Namibia, Zambia and Kenya to explore future collaborations in high technology and innovation.
Mathe emphasised Namibia’s ambition to become technologically sovereign.
“We feel we can rely on the Russian experience for that. Russia was the first country to send a man into space,” he said.
Mathe stressed that the current practice of storing citizens’ personal data outside their own countries should come to an end and achieving this is only possible through international cooperation.
He underlined the importance of establishing data centres in Africa and strengthening cybersecurity as key components of technological independence.
Mathe also referred to the historical ties between Namibia and Russia, dating back to Namibia’s liberation struggle.
“We also detected attacks on government facilities. We had suspects coming from other countries, but this is a form of cooperation that Namibia and Russia can form,” he explained.
He added that further collaboration could be forged, moving beyond the historical context of the liberation struggle and independence.
Mathe noted that Russia could be a valuable partner in ensuring the successful and swift implementation of digital services.
He also pointed out that many Central African states currently lack the capacity to build world-class data centres and that cooperation between Russia and African nations could help reduce the associated costs.
He reiterated that numerous African countries are currently storing their data in nations outside the continent.
With the increasing threat of cyberattacks, Mathe believes Namibia and Russia should work together to develop joint solutions for protecting data through robust cooperation.
He confirmed Namibia is developing a data protection policy to ensure the safety of individuals.
He revealed that Namibia has recorded 2.7 million cyberattacks in recent years.
Responding to Mathe’s remarks, Alexey Efimov, deputy director for strategic partnerships at Innopraktika, highlighted Russia’s global leadership in digitalisation and e-governance.
He said that Russia is one of the few countries deploying its own digital solutions while effectively resisting cyberattacks.
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