Major new study will empower African nations to harness international law

A major new study will empower African nations to harness international law to navigate the increasingly complex threats to their cyber security.

The work will support African Union member states to shape their digital futures by creating their own national legal positions on cyber risks.

Researchers will support African ownership of an important and evolving area of international law by

combining technical training with diplomatic engagement.

This will help strengthen their capacity to respond to cyber risks and to contribute more effectively to the legal and normative frameworks governing conduct in cyberspace.

The project, “Advancing the Application of International Law in the Cyber Context in Africa”, is led by Dr Talita Dias from the University of Exeter, in close collaboration with experts from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and in partnership with the African Union.

While there is broad consensus among states that international law applies in cyberspace, the interpretation and articulation of how these rules govern state behaviour in the cyber context remain uneven. Many countries have begun staking out their positions by publishing official statements or national positions on how international rules and principles apply to cyber activities. But, to date, only 37 have published their national positions on the application of international law in cyberspace, and just one of them is African: Kenya.

Dr Dias said: “Digital technologies are reshaping economies, governance, and security across the globe. For Africa, this transformation presents immense opportunities, from expanding access to services to accelerating innovation and growth. Yet these same technologies are increasingly exploited by people to conduct harmful cyber operations, ranging from ransomware attacks and distributed denial-of-service incidents to electoral interference and disinformation campaigns, which increasingly challenge national stability, public trust, and sovereignty.

“The current situation is not a result of disengagement. African countries have been active participants in multilateral discussions, including at the United Nations Open-ended Working Group on ICTs. In 2024, the African Union published its landmark Common African Position on the Application of International Law to the Use of Information and Communications Technologies in Cyberspace, marking a significant development for the continent and affirming Africa’s role as an active contributor to the evolving legal discourse on cyberspace.

“But many African governments face significant capacity constraints that limit their ability to engage deeply with the legal dimensions of cybersecurity, even as cyber threats to their rapidly expanding digital economies continue to intensify.”

The project follows a 2024 roundtable involving representatives from 24 African Union Member States, and The Handbook on Developing a National Position on International Law and Cyber Activities: A Practical Guide for States, the result of a project led by the University of Exeter with support from the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Activities will include an in-person workshop at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, simulation exercises, peer-to-peer exchanges, and tailored expert feedback on draft national positions.

Professor Kubo Mačák, the University of Exeter legal academic who led the Handbook project, said: “A key feature of our work in this area is that the goal is not to prescribe a single approach or model on how to articulate a state’s position on international law in cyberspace. Instead, the idea is to create space for informed reflection, dialogue, and collaboration, supporting each state in developing positions that reflect its own legal perspectives and policy priorities.”