Ghana’s leading telecommunication network, MTN held a Thought Leadership Event to mark the end of Cybersecurity Month. The event, held at the MTN headquarters in Accra, brought together people from all walks of life, including experts and stakeholders within the cybersecurity industry.
Speaking at the event, Isaac Socrates Mensah, Senior Manager at the Cyber Security Authority, disclosed that cybersecurity crimes in Ghana are fueled by social engineering. He holds the view that addressing cybercrimes in Ghana will require awareness creation and letting people know what is expected of them.
“Because it is more of a social problem than a technical problem, it is more about creating awareness, letting people know what is expected of them, things that they are supposed to do, and things that they are not supposed to do,” he stated.
Mr. Mensah also announced that Ghana is taking bold steps to strengthen its digital identification system and clamp down on SIM-related fraud. He disclosed plans for a new SIM re-registration exercise to correct earlier verification challenges and align user data with national digital ID platforms.
“The idea is simple – make cyber fraud expensive and unattractive,” he said. “Once a device is blacklisted for criminal activity, it becomes useless everywhere.”
The Senior Manager, Legal at the CSA, Mr. Seth Gyapong-Oware, called for stronger cross-sector collaboration to tackle cybercrime and promote digital safety at every level of society.
“Cybersecurity is borderless,” he stated. “We need coordination among service providers, regulators, international partners, and the public. It’s not only about laws and technology; it’s about awareness, education, and capacity building.” He noted that Ghana’s national cybersecurity agenda, led by the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, emphasizes policy reforms, international cooperation, and workforce development to safeguard the country’s digital infrastructure.
“To secure our digital future, we must act now,” he stressed. “Technology gives us freedom, but that freedom must be exercised with responsibility.”
Jacqueline Hanson-Kotei, Senior Manager for Enterprise Information and Security and Governance, who hosted the event, indicated that the event was imperative as it helps provide the regulator with the opportunity to educate users and also provide them with information on what they are doing to protect them.
“It was important that we hear from the regulator, we dialogue with them, we hear what they are doing so we can also come on board and assist them where necessary and ask them the salient questions,” she said.
In a major reform, the CSA is collaborating with mobile network operators to develop a framework linking every mobile device to its registered SIM card. The system will ensure that once a fraudster’s SIM is blocked, the associated device is automatically disabled across all networks.
