At the invitation of Cameroon’s Minister of Defence, the president of the African Center for Competitive Intelligence (CAVIE) addressed senior officers of the International War College (ESIG) in Yaounde on May 26, 2026. The occasion was the annual symposium on Africa in the economic warfare. The following is an exclusive summary of his contribution.
Africa is undergoing a geopolitical transition in which information determines sovereignty. In the face of financial losses caused by the siphoning of its strategic data, Dr. Guy GWETH, president of CAVIE, outlined at the ESIG in Yaounde the levers available to transform these vulnerabilities into lasting advantages. His argument rests on a fundamental triptych: sanctuary defense, operational counter-espionage, and influence.
Strengthening the Sanctuary and Sovereignty over Strategic Flows
Defense requires a mindset of vigilance and a robust technical apparatus to protect intangible assets. Given the porousness of institutional channels that facilitates industrial espionage, counter-intelligence recommends establishing periodic audits, sealed zones, exfiltration detection software, and training against social engineering.
To protect strategic flows from external interception, the adoption of local cryptographic protocols and sovereign servers is essential. Physical isolation of critical networks must become the norm, supplemented by the systematic use of signal detectors and frequency scanners to counter electronic threats at summits.
Global Standardization and Operational Counter-Espionage
To address the legal fragmentation that the AfCFTA could worsen, implementation of the Malabo Convention on cybersecurity must be accelerated. This framework must be supported by local centers of excellence for sharing weak signals and by indigenous technologies to break technological dependency.
Counter-espionage neutralizes infiltrations that exploit human vulnerabilities. The response combines behavioral analysis, financial monitoring of strategic positions, and physical counter-surveillance during official travel.
Neutralization, Structures, and Offensive Intelligence
Rather than abruptly expelling an intruder, modern counter-intelligence prefers to turn the agent in order to feed the adversary disinformation. CAVIE also recommends a secure internal reporting protocol against kompromat.
To stop economic siphoning, dedicated counter-intelligence units must be established within state organizations. These units will use artificial intelligence to detect exfiltrations in real time, backed by a protective framework for whistleblowers.
Offensive intelligence transforms information into actionable knowledge. The use of big data, artificial intelligence, and open-source analysis makes it possible to anticipate supply disruptions, regulatory changes, and to identify the weaknesses of external competitors.
The War of Perceptions and Lasting Influence
Faced with risk perceptions often amplified by global media networks, Africa must deploy lobbies, think tanks, and media outlets to establish a positive narrative. This soft power calls for an offensive economic diplomacy and access to a prescriptive power status within international standards bodies.
To circumvent the financial cost of foreign rating agencies, establishing African agencies and a competitive intelligence support fund is a priority. Digital sovereignty will ultimately require regional data centers and the integration of economic warfare training into higher education.
Africa’s emergence depends on its mastery of information cycles. The CAVIE triptych (mindset, apparatus, process) provides the compass needed to build a sovereign shield. The future will hinge on AfCFTA integration, endogenous rating systems, and the appropriation of generative artificial intelligence.
Editorial Team