By Linus Aleke
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Tuesday said it will officially hand over a digital laboratory to the Gambian authorities on Wednesday 19 October 2022 in Banjul, the Gambia to build the operational capacity of the structures in charge of digital forensic investigations.

ECOWAS Commission, in a statement, said, the digital laboratory is part of the European Union (EU), funded project code-named ‘Organised Crime: West African Response on Cybersecurity and fight against Cybercrime,’
(OCWAR-C).

The statement disclosed that the official handover of the cybercrime laboratory, a digital forensic tool, to the Ministry of Home Affairs through the Ministry of Telecommunications and Digital Economy of The Gambia, will be done by the ECOWAS Commission, in collaboration with the European Union.

“By handing over this brand new laboratory to the Gambian authorities, ECOWAS and its partners wish to build the capacity of the Gambian police to effectively counter cybercrime in the country and to better cooperate with other Member States in terms of managing cybercrime problems,” the statement reads in part.

The laboratory, the Commission said, is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, including forensic equipment (forensic duplicator and imager, forensic laptops, forensic workstation/server, etc.), generic materials, software and licences.

It also disclosed that before the relocation of this laboratory, training was provided to the Gambian police officers to develop and enhance their capacity to process digital evidence following well-established best practices and appropriate procedures.

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“Several public figures are expected to attend the presentation ceremony on Wednesday 19 October. They include, people from the ECOWAS Commission, the European Union Delegation in The Gambia, Expertise France, Ministries of Digital Economy, the Interior and Foreign Affairs of The Gambia.
The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Alieu Touray will be represented at this important official ceremony by Mr Sédiko Douka, ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation,” the statement further reads.

The Commission said, the Agari CyberIntelligence Division (ACID) report, reveals that 60% of the world’s business email compromise perpetrators are in Africa, specifically in 11 countries, 6 of which are in West Africa.

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The report it said added that in terms of losses, cybercrime reduced the GDP of Africa by 10% in 2021, resulting in a loss of 4 billion USD.

These examples and statistics have prompted the ECOWAS Commission and its partners to work towards ensuring a coordinated regional approach to address cybercrime issues through the launch of a cybersecurity agenda to support the securing of the common digital space, which is a growth market in West Africa.

ECOWAS Commission further said that the handing over of the laboratory will be followed by an awareness campaign on Friday 21 October on cybersecurity for a sample of 80 people, representing the country’s stakeholders involved in this activity, including state actors, IT managers of private structures and the general public.

OCWAR-C it added is an ECOWAS project funded by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France.

The Commission concluded that the primary objective of the project is to contribute to improving cybersecurity and combating cybercrime in the member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Mauritania.