The Ghana Association of Bankers (GAB) and the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) have expressed their readiness to collaborate to develop strategies to build resilient digital ecosystem for Ghana’s financial sector.

A statement was jointly signed by Dr Albert Antwi-Boasiako, Acting Director-General of Cyber Security Authority and Mr John Awuah, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Association of Bankers at the end of a meeting held to dialogue on some security issues in the financial sector space. It revealed that the two parties exchanged views on strengthening cyber security and discussed practical strategies for implementing the Cyber security Act  2020 (Act 1038). The two parties also looked at a possible revision to BoG’s Cyber and Information Security Directive, among various issues of mutual interest.

Present at the meeting were representatives from the Information Security Office of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and other notable dignitaries. The statement further indicated that the Ghana Association of Bankers and the Cyber Security Authority have dialogued on the role of banks in ensuring that the financial sector remains robust and competitive enough to withstand any cyber threats.

Cyber Threats on Financial Sector

The statement stated that the parties recognized the importance of securing the banking sector, especially the critical systems, as they have been designated as Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) pursuant to Section 35 of the Cyber security Act, 2020. The Law establishes the Cyber Security Authority, protects the critical information infrastructure of the country, regulates cyber security activities, provides for the protection of children on the internet and develops Ghana’s cyber security ecosystem.

The statement added that the two parties recognized that the Bank of Ghana is the regulator of the banking and financial services sector and that the CSA only regulates owners of Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) with respect to cyber security activities as provided in Section 3 of Act 1038. It further noted that all members of the GAB are designated as owners of CII, hence the need to strengthen collaboration between the GAB, CSA and the BoG.

The statement acknowledged that these cyber security incidents have affected critical sectors of the country including energy, telecommunications, banking and finance and have caused disruptions in the delivery of essential services. If unchecked, it can undermine the security and economy of the country.

The statement asserted that the parties agreed that security in the Banking sector could be improved if there is an effective collaboration and partnerships with other institutions like the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), the Economic Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), and the Cyber Security Authority, amongst others.

Meanwhile, after successful deliberations, CSA and GAB agreed to collaborate more closely on certain critical areas and provide each other with all the necessary assistance for the efficient performance of their functions.

The meeting concluded with the statement outlining the areas of cooperation which include: the protection of CIIs, incident response, multi-stakeholder engagement, capacity building and awareness creation.

Recently the government of Ghana outlined policies to reinforce the government’s unwavering commitment to digitizing the Ghanaian economy and providing the soft infrastructure that will enable the private sector, payment service providers, banking sector and all other ecosystem players to innovate digital financial solutions in a conducive environment to the benefit of all Ghanaians.