40 Kenyan public servants graduate from Huawei-sponsored training program

NAIROBI, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Forty Kenyan state officers on Tuesday graduated from a training program sponsored by Chinese telecoms firm Huawei and partners to enhance their capacity in protecting the country's digital infrastructure.

The graduation ceremony took place in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, attended by senior government officials, diplomats, industry executives, scholars, and budding innovators.

William Kabogo, cabinet secretary of Kenya's Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy, hailed a partnership with Huawei aimed at boosting cyber defenses in the country. "We have a responsibility to ensure that the foundations of our digital economy remain safe, trusted, and resilient," he said.

According to Kabogo, Kenya has prioritized investments in training, infrastructure upgrade, enhanced surveillance, punitive legislation, and citizens' awareness to secure digital assets.

He added that the Huawei-sponsored cybersecurity training program has provided state officers with the technical know-how required to detect cyber threats, including ransomware, phishing, hacking, and data theft.

Samuel Cheng, managing director of Huawei Kenya Enterprise Business, said the telecoms firm has backed programs to safeguard the East African nation's digital infrastructure for innovation and inclusive growth.

Cheng said Kenya's rapid digitization of its economy has been accompanied by risks, necessitating public-private partnerships to ensure the networks are resilient and secure.

"As a critical provider of such networks and systems, Huawei is fully committed to both ensuring our solutions are secure and developing leading network security solutions," he said.

Dickson Gisiora, director of cyber security at Kenya's Ministry of ICT and the Digital Economy, who participated in the Huawei-sponsored cybersecurity training, said it focused on firewall installation, network security, network access, and control.

"The knowledge and skills that I acquired during this training are very key in achieving the mandate of my day-to-day functions as an officer," Gisiora added. ■