Category: General

Addis Ababa, The Information Network Security Agency (INSA) has thwarted over 96 percent of cyber-attacks against key institutions, Cyber Security Audit and Evaluation Directorate Head Tilahun Ejegu said.

In an exclusive interview with the Ethiopian News Agency, the head said Ethiopia has experienced an exponential increase in cyber-attacks over the last eight years, with a 50 percent spike year-on-year.

According to him, the number of cyber-attacks targeting Ethiopian infrastructures has increased from 214 eight years ago to 8,845 last year.

The cyber-attacks included distributed denial of service (DDoS), scanning, and malware attacks, he said, adding that the most targeted sectors were financial, security, media organizations, key infrastructures, government ministries and cross sectorial institutions like education and health.

According to Tilahun, Malware, denial-of-service, and scan attacks are the most common types of cyber-attacks on Ethiopia.

Malware is malicious software that can damage or disable a computer system or network, while denial-of-service attacks are attempts to overwhelm a computer system or network with traffic, making it unavailable to legitimate users. Scan attack is evaluation of vulnerabilities in systems for any future attack.

The aim of the attacks, the head said, is to deny service, steal data, and damage public trust in the government.

The head revealed that the attacks are carried out by some elements with different political intent, especially by those who wanted to profit from the insecurity and political instability of the country. Geopolitics of water is also among the reasons of cyber-attacks.

Last year alone, there were 695 scanning attacks, 1,295 malware attacks, 603 penetration attempts, and 2,254 website attacks.

However, INSA has managed to thwart the attacks and saved over 23 billion Birr worth of potential damage, Tilahun said.

These attacks could have a significant impact on the country’s economy and security if it wasn’t for INSA’s good posture to thwart the attack.

The head pointed out that Ethiopia’s cyber security posture is among the best in the African continent. “Our cyber incident response team clearly understands from which geographical area the attacks come from, targeting which infrastructure for what purpose,” he stated.

Yet, the agency has conducted comprehensive vulnerability assessments across 127 key government institutions to identify gaps and weaknesses in the country’s cyber defenses.

Based on these findings, INSA is working diligently to close any discovered gaps and fortify systems against attack by thoroughly evaluating cyber vulnerabilities at a national scale and addressing the risks.

Tilhaun said that the comprehensive assessments and remediation efforts demonstrate INSA’s proactive approach to improving the country’s cyber security standing.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Addis Ababa, A project aimed at establishing commercially viable and sustainable forage markets for dairy producers in Ethiopia was launched today.

Speaking during the launching ceremony, Livestock Development Institute Director-General Asrat Tera said the project focuses on increasing the demand for climate-smart forage among small-scale producers in dairy villages, increasing the supply of nutrient-dense climate-smart forage grown locally, and strengthening the enabling environment for forage market development.

The project will be implemented in six regions of Ethiopia—Oromia, Amhara, Sidama, Central, Southern, and South West Ethiopia—and bring best practices to the other regions, he added.

The Nourishing Prosperity Alliance Forage project in Ethiopia will be implemented in collaboration with various pertinent bodies, including CortevaAgriscience, Forage Genetics International (FGI), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and local partners of the Nourishing Prosperity Alliance (NPA), with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Land O’Lakes Venture 37, it was learned.

According to Asrat, the project directly aligns with the millstone of Yelemat Tirufat, and hence the Ministry of Agriculture renders whatever support is needed to achieve the milestones of the project through its local partner institutions.

Land O’Lakes Venture 37 Group Director, Dai Harvey, said the project will be implemented in the next 5 years.

The Nourishing Prosperity Alliance Forage project is looking at the commercialization of forage in Ethiopia and also in Kenya to improve animal nutrition so as to improve the productivity of animals across East Africa.

The group director pointed out that in Ethiopia’s context, the project will significantly contribute to improving the productivity of the dairy animals with the view to enhancing the amount of milk being produced from existing dairy animals across Ethiopia, starting in high-dairy potential regions of the country

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

WINDHOEK: The Namibian Police Force (NamPol) in Windhoek are investigating separate alleged housebreaking incidents that happened over the weekend.

One such incident occurred on Saturday, when a group of unknown men reportedly entered a flat at Otjomuise, held its occupants at gunpoint and pangas, before robbing them of their properties valued at N.dollars 49 000.

The properties include two laptops, one Samsung television (TV) set and an iPhone 13.

A NamPol weekly crime report availed on Monday indicated that the incident happened around 00h00 when the flat’s door was left open.

In another incident at Single Quarters, an unknown suspect allegedly broke a kindergarten’s burglar door, gained entry and stole 19 plastic chairs, five plastic tables, toiletries and stationery, all valued at N.dollars 101 100.

The incident happened on Friday around 07h00 in Helena Angula Street, it said.

No recovery or arrest has been made.

Another housebreaking with intent to steal and theft case was registered, after suspects allegedly used unknown objects to break and gain entry into a house in Otjomuise on Saturday. The suspects stole two Samsung TVs, one sound bar and one Samsung A12 cellphone. The incident reportedly happened around 03h00.

The stolen items are valued at N.dollars 22 000.

Meanwhile, a case of theft under false pretence was registered, after a suspect allegedly took the complainant’s restaurant equipment valued at N.dollars 40 000 from a plot at Brakwater and failed to pay for them or to return them between August 2023 and 20 October 2023.

The items include one oven, one steel table and one fan. No recovery has been made. The suspect is yet to be arrested.

Police investigations into all matters continue.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: Okahandja residents occupying unserviced municipal land in the fast-growing informal settlement of FiveRand have resorted to using waste water from the NamWater industrial pipeline flowing into the riverbed adjacent to the settlement.

Speaking to Nampa recently while bathing and washing their clothes in the riverbed, a group of children said although they are not sure if the water is safe for humans, it is a reliable source for their daily usage as the community does not have enough water points.

They said there are limited communal water points in the vast informal area, therefore many households near the riverbed have resorted to using the waste water for doing their laundry, bathing and sometimes even cooking.

The Namibia Water Corporation’s (NamWater) Chief Strategy Officer, Kadiva Hamutumwa indicated that the water is untreated and therefore unfit for human consumption. She said residents are constantly urged not to utilise the water other than for gardening purposes.

Hamutumwa said the pipeline was installed as a precautionary measure to transport excess water from the ponds in the event of an operational breakdown, such as when the recovery pumps fail, which has the potential to flood the entire area and damage or even break the pond embankment.

A resident, Makina Mukula who has been living in the area since 2016, said residents have been requesting additional water points and electricity from the municipality, stressing that water is scarce and sometimes when people cannot afford to top up their communal water tokens; it also forces them to use the riverbed water.

“We have been requesting for water for years, but nothing. However, the municipality has given us numbers at this point to maybe formalise us, perhaps more water is coming soon too,” he noted.

Okahandja constituency councillor, Bathuel Tjaveondja in an interview with Nampa stressed that land grabbing has put the local authority under immense pressure to ensure the provision of basic municipal services. The municipality is currently engaging on the matter to ensure the provision of more communal water points and electricity for Okahandja’s informal settlements, including FiveRand.

“The Okahandja population is growing rapidly on a daily basis and when the council budgets for five water points in that financial period, more are needed. People are forced to wake up at 04h00 to queue up for water to make sure they get water, sometimes even from a distance of many kilometres. We are engaging with the community to dig the water pipeline once the procurement of the equipment has been finalised,” he noted.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation launched Namibia’s Annual Productivity Awareness Campaign Week on Monday.

Speaking at the launch, Minister Utoni Nujoma explained that the purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness among the Namibian workforce and the general public about the advantages and significance of productivity.

“A nation’s wealth is not measured solely by the abundance of material possessions but rather by the collective effort of its people to create, innovate and contribute to the betterment of society. Productivity is the cornerstone upon which the structure of national prosperity is built. Moreover, productivity is the key source of economic growth and competitiveness,” he said.

“A country’s ability to improve its standard of living depends almost entirely on its ability to raise its output per worker,” Nujoma said.

“When we speak of productivity, we speak of the innovation that leads to groundbreaking discoveries, the diligence that transforms raw materials into valuable goods, and the creativity that gives rise to new industries. Growth in labour productivity is directly attributable to fluctuations in physical capital, new technology, and human capital,” he said.

“Physical capital is the tools, equipment and facilities that workers have to use to produce goods, while new technologies are new methods to combine inputs to produce more outputs, such as assembly lines or automation, whereas human capital represents the increase in education and specialisation of the workforce.”

He said the ministry first launched the Productivity Awareness Raising Week in October 2018 to raise awareness about the importance of productivity to individuals, organisations, and the Namibian nation at large.

This year’s productivity week is being held in the Erongo Region at the Erongo Expo in Swakopmund under the theme ‘A productive nation is a wealthy nation’.

Meanwhile, Minister Nujoma called on the public to follow activities on the ministry’s social media platforms and visit their exhibition stand at Erongo Expo for more information about the importance of productivity and its benefits to our country.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: Berthold Karumendu, the organiser of the Erongo Powersave Omaruru Street Mile, aims to introduce a fully automatic timing (FAT) system for the race.

However, the Sport Officer for the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service, who is based in Erongo Region and working in Omaruru, has stated that additional funds will be required to make this dream a reality.

FAT is a type of race timing where the clock is automatically activated by the starting device, and the finish time is either automatically recorded or timed by analysis of a photo finish.

In an interview with Nampa on Saturday, Karumendu said his goal is to have electronic systems for the event, but the machines are expensive.

“We would like to see international athletes competing in the event in the future, but this can only be achieved when more logistics are improved, and electronic timing replaces the current manual system,” Karumendu said.

He also plans to divide the junior category into two age groups. He intends to separate athletes between the 18 and 19-year-old category from athletes 17 years of age and under.

The 10th Edition of the Erongo Powersave Street Mile Run which took place over the weekend was a huge success, with 1 402 participants from all over Namibia competing for top honours over 1.6 kilometres.

“I am happy with the number of young talents who participated in the event. The quality of the race has improved over the past 10 years and the event featured elite Namibian athletes who recently competed in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, such as Alina Armas in the women’s race and Reinhardt Thomas in the men’s race,” Karumendu said.

He noted that much of the event’s the success is owed to the sponsors. He expressed his gratitude to the companies, namely Shield Namibia/Erongo Powersave Wholesale, FNB Omaruru, Coca Cola Namibia Bottling Company, the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service for transporting athletes to Omaruru, the Omaruru Municipality, Omaruru Spar, the Namibian Police in Omaruru/Traffic Department and the Omaruru District Hospital, who have been supporting the race since 2013.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

OMARURU: Over 100 members of the Omaruru Homeless People’s Association gathered near the Welwitschia settlement in Omaruru on Saturday to occupy land which they claim belongs to them.

The group’s chairperson, Nambee Upendura Domingo, told Nampa in an interview that the members can no longer live in their parents’ houses, as there is enough land in town that can be allocated to them so they built their structures.

According to Domingo, they have waited for too long for the municipality and council to make land available to them.

“We are not grabbing land, we are merely occupying ancestral land that belongs to us. Our move to occupy land was necessitated by the delay from our municipality and council for not availing land while we continue living in our parents’ houses with our kids and husbands,” she said.

Domingo accused the municipality and councillors of corruption, saying they have outsiders who have been allocated land in Omaruru, while locals are left out.

“We have identified enough land in Omaruru and have registered over 800 people raised in the town, but they still do not have land, despite paying the municipality N.dollars 25 for over five years for the allocation of land,” said Domingo, who added that locals are confused about why they keep paying the municipality when nothing is happening.

The group’s spokesperson, Lukas Nyumbu, also told this agency that the challenge they are currently facing is the lack of honesty from their leadership in Omaruru.

“We were asked in 2016 to apply for land in Omaruru, which we did, but have not received any feedback. Omaruru has a high number of unemployed youth, and some of them have now turned 40 years old and are still accommodated in their parents’ houses,” Nyumbu said.

Nyumbu claimed that there is a lot of nepotism when it comes to the municipal council, saying only those close to them benefit, and they would like to see this council removed.

The Omaruru Homeless People’s Association stated that all they need is land now, and services can come later.

Community members plan to hand in a petition to the council on Wednesday.

Efforts to contact both the Chief Executive Officer of Omaruru, Valentinus Sindongo, and Mayor Vincent Kahua were unsuccessful, as calls went unanswered.

Recently, Erongo Governor Neville Andre Itope intervened in a similar situation at Arandis, where residents with similar grievances also threatened to illegally occupy land.

Itope expressed dissatisfaction with the poor service delivery in the town, noting that leaders fail to communicate and consult with residents properly. He urged leaders in general to end this and to start engaging with residents more effectively.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency