The Cybersafe Foundation has launched Resilio Africa, a three year cybersecurity initiative designed to strengthen the digital resilience of Critical Community Institutions across the continent, with support from Google.org. The programme will focus on hospitals, schools, non profits, helplines, media organisations and other essential service providers that often operate with limited resources and weak cyber defences. It will begin in Nigeria and Kenya before expanding to Ghana and South Africa later this year, targeting 200 organisations in its first phase.
Speaking at the launch, Executive Director of Cybersafe Foundation, Confidence Staveley, said the initiative was created to bridge the persistent gap between awareness of cyber risks and practical action. She noted that while many organisations understand the threat landscape, financial constraints frequently prevent them from implementing necessary safeguards.
Through Resilio Africa, participating institutions will receive more than 10,000 hours of cybersecurity consulting at no cost, support she said would typically exceed one million dollars in value. According to her, Google.org’s grant has helped offset the financial burden and make the programme accessible to vulnerable institutions.
Staveley highlighted the urgency of the initiative, citing data that recorded over 95 million malware based attacks in sub Saharan Africa in the first half of 2025, including spyware, password stealing malware and backdoor tools. She said many community institutions continue to rely on outdated systems, operate with minimal technical staff and have little or no cybersecurity budget, leaving them highly exposed.
The keynote speaker, Anna Collard, Senior Vice President for Content Strategy at KnowBe4 Africa, described cyber resilience as fundamentally about people rather than just technology. She warned that hospitals and schools are attractive targets for attackers because of their limited defences, yet the consequences of breaches in such institutions can be severe.
Google.org Senior Programme Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Haviva Kohl, said the programme was designed as a comprehensive resilience effort rather than a single training exercise. She referenced a 23 percent increase in ransomware attacks across Africa in 2023, noting that public and non profit institutions were among the most affected. According to her, many of these organisations operate without dedicated security funding, making external support critical to improving their protection and long term sustainability.
Cybersafe Foundation Programmes Lead, Success Tawo, explained that Resilio Africa will provide tailored support including cybersecurity health checks, phishing simulations, staff training, incident response playbooks, real time threat intelligence and access to a regional peer network.
She said the initiative aims to help safeguard the records of at least two million people across the participating countries while fostering collaboration among institutions facing similar risks. The programme will run for three years, with plans for further expansion subject to funding, and applications are now open to eligible organisations in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa.