Ghana Cybersecurity Act

The Ghana Cybersecurity Act 2020 (Act 1038) was enacted 29 December 2020 + entered into force 6 January 2021. The Act establishes the CYBER SECURITY AUTHORITY (CSA Ghana) as the lead national cybersecurity authority + provides a comprehensive cybersecurity legal framework covering: (1) DESIGNATION + PROTECTION OF CRITICAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE (CII) across 13 sectors including telecommunications + banking + finance + electricity + water + transport + government services + healthcare + emergency services + others; (2) CYBERSECURITY INCIDENT REPORTING by CII owners to CSA within 24 HOURS of incident discovery + follow-up reports; (3) NATIONAL COMPUTER EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM (CERT-GH / National CERT) - the operational arm coordinating incident response + threat intelligence + cyber-exercises; (4) CYBERSECURITY SERVICE PROVIDER LICENSING - mandatory licensing for managed security service providers + penetration testing firms + cybersecurity consultants operating in Ghana; (5) CYBERSECURITY PROFESSIONAL ACCREDITATION - registration + certification of individual cybersecurity practitioners; (6) CHILD ONLINE PROTECTION - provisions on offenses against children + reporting obligations + cooperation with law enforcement; (7) LAWFUL ACCESS + PRESERVATION - electronic-evidence regime + interception + preservation orders; (8) CYBERCRIME OFFENCES - unauthorised access + interception + data interference + system interference + computer-related forgery/fraud + content-related offences (coordinated with Budapest Cybercrime Convention which Ghana acceded to in 2018); (9) CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS + EDUCATION; (10) INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION + MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE.