In recent years, Bosnia and Herzegovina has seen a consistent
increase in the rate of Internet absorption along with a continuous extension of broadband access across urban and rural areas. As a potential EU candidate country, Bosnia has recently developed a burgeoning drive to advance the country’s digital and cyber capabilities in line with those of the European Union; ‘smart growth’ is notably included as one of the national priorities under the 2015
Strategic Framework. That said, the institutional, regulatory, and operational framework that would enable the realisation of this ambition is still nascent and the progress in many policy areas is undermined by the complexity of
the distribution of powers between the central government and two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska. In 2017, Bosnia formally adopted the Policy of Electronic Communications of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2017-2021, which is largely aligned with the Digital Agenda of Europe [
x]. This vision of a Bosnian digital society is a key milestone for the country’s emerging cyber diplomatic apparatus as it clearly identifies the foundational pillars of the country’s ICT ecosystem, which in turn will assist in bringing it into closer alignment with European cyber priorities.
Nigeria is Africa’s
largest economy, with a total GDP of $432.3 billion, 13.85% of which comes from the country’s budding ICT sector [
x]. Over the past decade, Nigeria has seen an extraordinary surge in digital entrepreneurship (particularly e-commerce) and mobile internet usage, both fuelled by an increase in telecom investments and smartphone purchases; this has led to a rise in internet penetration from 20% in 2009 to 50% in 2021 [
x][
x]. Nigeria is gradually emerging as Africa’s main ICT investment destination, hosting over 55 active tech hubs [
x]. Meanwhile, in October 2021, the country was the first in Africa to launch a national cryptocurrency [
x]. The rapid acceleration of Nigeria’s digital transformation, however, comes at the cost of increased cybersecurity demands. A 2020 survey showed that 86% of Nigerian companies had fallen prey to cyberattacks over the course of the year [
x]; this was the second-highest percentage worldwide and the highest in Africa. Nigeria also reported the highest number of data leakages globally [
x]. Current Nigerian priorities – outlined in the
2020-2030 Digital Strategy – include laying down the regulatory and infrastructural groundwork to facilitate digital development, as well as enabling public confidence in the digital economy. This means that cyber issues are becoming increasingly relevant for Nigerian diplomacy, especially with regard to digital trade and cybercrime.