OLA Girls Senior High School (SHS) Ho has been adjudged the winner of the 2023 Edition of the National Cyber Security Challenge in Accra as part of the closing ceremony of the two-day Global Conference on Cyber Capacity Building (GC3B).  

OLA Girls took home a cash prize of GH₵7,000, a Trophy and certificate of participation.  

Wesley Girls’ SHS and Prempeh College tied for the second place with prize money of GH₵2000 each and certificates, while Navrongo Senior High School, which came third got GH₵1000 and certificates.  

The Challenge is a government initiative spearheaded by the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) to promote cyber safety and awareness among senior high school students, by providing them with hands-on experiences in identifying, preventing, and mitigating cyber threats.  

The objective of the competition is to enhance awareness on Cyber Security Best Practices for students, address the growing concern of student’s online vulnerability, and equip   

them with the skills to interact with digital technology confidently, safely, and responsibly.  

In this year’s edition, the country has been divided into four zones namely, the Northern, Middle, Eastern and Southern zones with 50 SHSs, representing 16 regions of the country.   

The contestants were taken through the Child Online Protection provisions in the Cybersecurity Act, (Act 1038), 2020, digital footprint, social engineering, and open-source intelligence, among others as part of preparations for the competition which commences in June.  

Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister of Communications and Digitalization urged delegates as they departed from the conference to "carry forward the momentum generated here. The ideas shared, the collaborations formed, and the lessons learned should serve as catalysts for positive change in our respective spheres.”  

The Minister said the Accra Call signed on day one of the conference was a call to action for governments and organisations around the world.  

It is to affirm their willingness to voluntarily promote, pursue, and coordinate efforts on 16 specific actions to elevate cyber resilience across international and national development agendas.  

She said the framework's initiatives aimed to promote cyber capacity building, which promoted larger development goals and effectively fulfil the needs of developing countries.  

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said the Accra Call for Cyber Resilient Development would serve as a beacon to intensify efforts to mainstream cyber resilience across national and international development agendas, encourage cyber skills building that contributed to broader development goals, and deepen partnerships.  

“The government is not relenting in its efforts to fight cybercrime to ensure a secure and resilient digital ecosystem by effectively regulating cybersecurity and promoting its development in the country,” she added.  

She urged the conference participants to maintain the connections established to continue the dialogue, and to implement the strategies and insights gained over the past two days.  

She said the journey towards a more secure cyberspace was ongoing, and our collaboration is key to navigating the ever-evolving landscape.  

“As we further digest the conference's main themes, we must keep in mind that cybersecurity is both a technical and societal concern,” she said.  

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said the discussions and decisions made at this conference would reverberate beyond these walls,impacting the future of cybersecurity not only in Africa but globally.