Director General of the Information Network Security Administration (INSA), W/o Tigist Hamid, is participating in the ongoing ID4Africa 2026 in Abidjan, the capital of Côte d’Ivoire.
At this continental forum, held under the theme “From DPI to Digital Public Ecosystems”, the Director General took part in a panel discussion titled “Cyber Security for Digital Identity”, where she presented Ethiopia’s successful digital transformation experience to the international community.
During her remarks, she emphasized that Ethiopia’s digital transformation journey is guided by a strong principle of “Security by Design,” meaning that cybersecurity is considered and integrated alongside the implementation of technology.
She also noted that the national digital ID system (Fayda) is a key foundation for e-government services. In this regard, she highlighted that a National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) system, which ensures the security of the national ID, was launched in the 2018 Ethiopian fiscal year.
Among the key issues raised in the panel was how African countries can harmonize their cybersecurity legal frameworks with international standards. The Director General provided extensive explanations on this topic.
She stressed that legal interoperability is essential to ensure that digital identity and data exchange systems are recognized beyond national borders and across the continent. She also shared Ethiopia’s efforts to align its cybersecurity and data protection laws with international standards.
Furthermore, she called for African countries to work together to develop common frameworks that respect national contexts while enabling interoperability at the global level.
She also emphasized that multi-stakeholder collaboration is essential for enabling secure data sharing and building an inclusive African digital public ecosystem.
The ID4Africa 2026 is a major continental conference where African countries discuss how to build secure, inclusive, and interoperable digital public infrastructure systems.
