Google.org has announced funding support for a three-year cybersecurity resilience initiative aimed at securing more than 15 million public records and protecting over two million people across Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa, as cyberattacks increasingly target public and nonprofit institutions in sub-Saharan Africa.
The project, known as Resilio Africa, is being implemented by the CyberSafe Foundation and will focus on strengthening the cyber resilience of 200 Critical Community Institutions across the four countries, according to BusinessDay.
These institutions provide essential services and manage large volumes of sensitive public and personal data.
The initiative comes amid growing evidence of Africa’s cyber vulnerability. INTERPOL reported a 23 percent rise in ransomware attacks across the continent in 2023, with public sector and nonprofit organisations among the hardest hit.
Data from the International Telecommunication Union’s Global Cybersecurity Index also show that more than 60 percent of African countries fall into the “low commitment” category for national cybersecurity readiness.
Under the programme, participating institutions will receive free cybersecurity tools, risk assessments, threat intelligence and incident response frameworks designed to address weaknesses in Africa’s expanding digital ecosystem.
The organisers described Resilio Africa as one of the continent’s most ambitious community-focused cybersecurity capacity-building efforts.
Haviva Kohl, senior program manager at Google.org, said, “At Google.org, we believe that access to secure digital systems is a cornerstone of inclusive growth. Our support for CyberSafe Foundation’s CCI cybersecurity efforts reflect our shared commitment to empowering communities and protecting the institutions that serve them. Resilio Africa will help ensure that essential community organizations can operate safely and confidently in an increasingly digital world.”
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CyberSafe Foundation said the initiative responds to growing attacks on critical community infrastructure that often lacks the resources and capacity to defend itself.
It noted that many institutions operate outdated systems, have low awareness of cyber threats and lack dedicated cybersecurity budgets, making them vulnerable to ransomware, phishing, data breaches and distributed denial-of-service attacks that disrupt services and erode trust.
Country-level data underline the scale of the challenge. In Kenya, more than 114 cyberattacks targeting critical community institutions were recorded in the first eight months of 2024, followed by a 201 percent increase in reported incidents by the first quarter of 2025.
In Nigeria, key government and healthcare systems still rely on unencrypted communication protocols, while institutions in Ghana and South Africa face similar threats but lack adequate response capacity.
Through Resilio Africa, CyberSafe Foundation plans to deliver more than 10,000 hours of pro bono cybersecurity consulting, train over 4,500 employees and decision-makers through tiered programmes for executives, IT teams and general staff, and deploy customised cybersecurity playbooks tailored to institutional needs.
“Africa’s digital transformation cannot succeed if our communities remain vulnerable. With Google.org’s support, we are scaling a proven model of capacity-building that will help critical institutions become resilient, safeguard the people they serve, and preserve trust in digital public systems,” said Confidence Staveley, founder and executive director of CyberSafe Foundation.
Applications for eligible critical community institutions to participate in the Resilio Africa initiative are now open across the four countries.
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Image Credit: iAFRICA
