The board of St. Elizabeth Sloane & Company Limited (Elizabeth Sloane), a business management firm with operations in the West Africa and Caribbean, has approved a $14.6 million investment in cybersecurity education and certification – a venture capital that is said to be the largest into cybersecurity education.

The firm is incorporated in Jamaica and The Gambia with registered office located in Kingston, Jamaica and Serrekunda, The Gambia.

The $14.6 million will be in grants and channeled through Elizabeth Sloane Institute of Technology (ESIT) to lead the effort in upskilling ICT Professionals on the African Continent and Caribbean.

It will be allocated through the Lauryn C. Poyser, The Kusi P. Adu- Amankwah "Lex Stella,” Upskill Africa, and the Courtney Jackson Awards, allowing ICT professionals the opportunity to obtain financial aid solutions to acquire cybersecurity industry-recognised certifications such as CISSP, CCSP, Security + and SSCP.

The grants are also expected to subsidise the cost of the certificates by more than 60 per cent depending on the grant.

Melanie Wynter, the Managing Director of Elizabeth Sloane said: "It is critical to support the upskilling of ICT professionals in the territories we serve. Data protection and cybersecurity have been at the core of all our digital solutions, and we don't have the needed personnel.”

ESIT seeks partnerships in distributing the awards and welcomes any support as it positions both Africa and Caribbean regions as a source for highly skilled ICT professionals.

The past two years have seen an uptick in cyberattacks, causing more than $600 billion to be lost to cybercrime.

According to 2021 Interpol’s Africa Cyberthreat Assessment Report, Africa is currently losing $4 billion annually to cybercrime. The same report found that more than 90 per cent of businesses on the continent were operating without the necessary cybersecurity protocols.

As of 2022, there is still a cybersecurity workforce gap of over 2.72 million. 52 per cent of companies in Africa believed that they were unprepared to handle a large-scale cyber-attack.

In addition, only a handful of countries have laws in place to protect consumers and businesses. The Global Cybersecurity Index (2021) shows that of 54 African countries assessed, only 29 have introduced cybersecurity legislation.