By Peter Nalika
With Kenya due to host CyberWeek Africa 2025 in Nairobi from 27th -31st October under the theme “Compliance by Design”, the discussion on cybersecurity has never been more pressing. In the last decade, the rapid digital change in Africa has created more opportunities in innovation, finances, and connectivity than ever before. But the same digital revolution has also provided a significantly large attack surface to malicious actors. Ransomware attacks and intrusions into financial institutions, as well as attacks on healthcare systems and government websites, are increasing in frequency, sophistication, and consequences.
Cybersecurity has moved beyond being an afterthought or a box-ticking compliance activity. Businesses in Kenya now treat it as a strategic function central to resilience, reputation, and competitiveness. Kenyan companies can adopt compliance by design as one of the most potent strategies. It is a philosophy developed worldwide in response to tighter data protection laws such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation [GDPR]. When adapted to Kenya’s regulatory and business environment. Compliance by design pushes organizations to go beyond legal requirements. It requiries them to embed cybersecurity into their operations as part of their business DNA.
From Reactive to Proactive Security
Traditionally, most Kenyan companies have taken a reactive approach to cybersecurity they only invest in protection after an incident. Cost concerns, competing business priorities, and the myth that cybercriminals only target big organizations have driven this behavior. But the fact is clear: cybercriminals increasingly target small and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs]. They are the backbone of Kenya’s economy, because they know these businesses often lack strong defenses.
Compliance by design changes this paradigm. It embeds security instead of adding controls after an attack. Businesses not only consider and build security and compliance requirements into their processes, systems, and products. They also scramble to retrofit them once breaches or audits arise. This approach reduces risk and lowers long-term expenses from remediation and reputational losses.
Kenya has gone a long way towards establishing a regulatory landscape that is friendly to cybersecurity-related initiatives. The adoption of the Data Protection Act [2019] brought the nation into line with international best practices. This was in regard to the management of personal data, and the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act [2018]. They established the principles of dealing with cybercrime. Enforcement and non-compliance have become a reality and are now punishable by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner [ODPC].
Nevertheless, compliance need not be viewed only as a liability or a legal requirement. It is a competitive difference. Businesses that exercise compliance by design send a message to clients, shareholders, and collaborators that they take data custodianship seriously. This creates trust, and in the digital economy, trust is worth as much as money.
Lessons from Compliance by Design
The compliance by design lessons are obvious. First, it involves institutionalizing security. It is not just a technical problem but a cultural shift where the leadership needs to take the lead on cybersecurity as a board issue, and that decision-making should be security-first. Training and awareness are critical as employees of all levels. They must be aware of their role in protecting data and systems.
Second, it focuses on the security that should be integrated into product and service development. In the case of technology-focused businesses like fintechs, e-commerce sites, and health-tech startups. It implies the integration of security in product design at the lowest levels. Through secure coding, thorough testing, and routine vulnerability testing. Putting security into the innovation process will allow businesses to deliver value without putting themselves or their customers at unnecessary risk.
The other lesson is the need to focus on risk-based approaches. Not every asset or data set is created equally, and compliance by design highlights the importance of identifying critical assets, evaluating risks, and protecting them where they need them the most. This enables businesses to use their resources wisely instead of using blanket controls. It is also necessary to monitor continuously. The process of compliance is not a once-only performance.
To help organizations keep up with shifting threats and regulatory requirements, they need to invest in tools that can help them perform real-time monitoring, threat intelligence, and automated compliance checks. Last, compliance by design will emphasize collaboration. Cybersecurity is a shared problem, and resilience can be enhanced through collaboration with regulators, colleagues in the industry, and service providers. Efforts specifically in information sharing enable businesses to predict threats that might not even have hit their systems.
The Business Case for Proactivity
A question can still arise in the minds of some business leaders: why spend a lot of money on compliance by design when there is a shortage of resources? The solution to this question is in the continued accumulation of financial and reputational breach costs. According to the IBM Data Breach Report 2024, the global average cost of a data breach was more than $4 million. A portion of this amount would be disastrous to a Kenyan SME. Besides the direct costs, the breaches negatively affect customer trust, disrupt business operations, and expose it to government regulatory controls.
On the other hand, security and compliance by design create objective business value. They build customer loyalty, force the investors to invest in the operation sustainably, and bring differentiation to the flooded markets. In the context of regional or global expansion of the company, effective cybersecurity practices also facilitate the ease of cross-border regulation, providing new avenues of growth.
With the world gathering to discuss cybersecurity and safety during the CyberWeek Africa 2025 in Nairobi, Kenyan businesses have an opportunity to make cybersecurity a strategic priority, and not just a technical issue. Compliance by design offers a viable structure to do so, a structure that adds resilience, builds trust, and positions organizations to succeed in a digital-first economy sustainably.
Cyber threats are not something of the future but a current and increasing reality. The alternatives available to Kenyan businesses are simple: either remain reactive to incidents and apply patchwork strategies at high costs, or adopt proactive measures that protect not only data but also the future of the business.
As part of CyberWeek Africa, organisations need to take a joint pledge: to incorporate compliance into our systems, to build security into our culture, and to see cybersecurity as an accelerator of trust, innovation, and long-term growth.
