Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan are among several African states to have signed a new deal on cyber security to protect multi-million-dollar oil and transport projects.
Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya signed a memorandum of understanding on cyber security at the 10th Northern Corridor Integration Summit in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, on Saturday.
South Sudanese leader Salva Kiir and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi were represented by ministers, World Bulletin reported.
“This cyber security agreement is going to be very important for this region,” Ambassador James Mugume from Uganda said.
“If you invest money into a railway and oil pipeline and you don’t invest in security to protect it, then you are wasting money, because terrorists will come and sabotage it. This is why within the Northern Corridor there is a supportive defensive system.
“As we integrate and look at various issues and projects, terrorist groups and other criminal elements are also taking advantage of the now-strong use of the internet platforms for communication and moving money.”
Uganda made commercial oil discoveries in 2006 in the Albertine Region in the country’s southwest with projected production to start in 2017 or 2018. Kenya has an estimated 10-billion-barrel reserve; South Sudan has just under half this.
The heads of states also signed agreements on total liberalization of labor and services, and a memorandum of understanding on foreign policy coordination.
