Reimagining Global Cybersecurity Governance through African Lenses

Reimagining Global Cybersecurity Governance through African Lenses examines cybersecurity as a governance challenge shaped by unequal distributions of power, responsibility, and authority in cyberspace. Drawing on cybersecurity, international relations, and governance scholarship, the book critically assesses prevailing approaches to global cybersecurity governance and argues that existing frameworks often fail to adequately reflect the interests, capacities, and realities of African states and the wider Global South. Through the conceptual framework of Cyber-Giants and Cyber-Pygmies, the book explores how cyber power is distributed, exercised, and contested within the international system. The book further examines contemporary developments reshaping cybersecurity governance, including cyber-enabled warfare, artificial intelligence, digital sovereignty, cloud infrastructure, and the growing influence of private technology companies. Using examples ranging from the Russia–Ukraine conflict to emerging debates on AI governance and digital dependence, it demonstrates how cybersecurity increasingly intersects with geopolitics, economic competition, and international security. By advancing an African-centered perspective, the book contributes to ongoing discussions on how a more inclusive, accountable, and resilient system of global cyber governance can be achieved.