Grace Ashiru
Gitex, an annual event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), where big tech companies and start-ups show off their latest innovations, has announced that it will hold its first-ever event in Africa. This is because of the continent’s potential for technological progress and its growing desire for new ideas.
Gitex Africa will be held for the first time in Marrakech, Morocco, from Friday, May 31, 2023, to Friday, June 2, 2023. This is a strategic move by international technology companies to tap into the largely untapped market on the African continent and spread their reach.
The event, which is also planned to welcome approximately 400 enterprises from the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, has been referred to as a timely development by international technology firms with a presence in several African countries.
Pasha Airshow, senior vice-president of Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East, and Africa Sales and Global Channels at Acronis, spoke on the sidelines of Gitex Technology Week in Dubai, UAE. He praised Gitex’s decision to enter the African market, primarily because international companies are investing more and more money on the continent.
“We welcome the announcement that Gitex is finally going global, with Africa as its first stop outside the UAE.”
As cyber security experts, Africa is an important market for us. Gitex Africa will give us a great chance to show businesses in Africa, especially SMEs, why they need to adopt a unified cyber security strategy to protect their valuable data from ransomware and other complex threats,” they said.
Earlier this year, Acronis opened data centers in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Lagos, Nigeria. Plans are in the works to open the third one in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2023. Pasha says cyber threats to businesses are getting worse, and the need for data access, privacy, and compliance is growing.
Defensive cyber strategy
Even though cyber threats in the region are getting worse, the Acronis Cyberthreats Report 2022 showed that phishing is still the most common attack, with 94 percent of malware being sent by email. Pasha says that this strategy is increasing. For example, in Q3 of this year, Acronis blocked 23% more phishing emails and 40% more malware emails than in Q2 of the same year.
The report also showed that ransomware is still one of the biggest threats to large companies and small and medium-sized businesses worldwide. It is also becoming a primary target for companies in Africa.
The public sector, healthcare, manufacturing, and other essential organizations are all high-value targets. In its most recent report, Acronis pointed out that ransomware is still among the most profitable cyberattacks. It also said that by 2023, ransomware could cause more than $30 billion in damages.
Acronis partnered with the top English Premier League team by hosting former Argentine international and Manchester City right-back Pablo Javier Zabaleta Girod. This shows that sports teams must invest in cyber protection strategies to help them find and deal with complex threats, protect their data, and stay competitive in their leagues.
