Pathways Towards Confidence: Priorities and Perspectives on African Confidence-building Measures in Cyberspace

This paper explores regional organisations motivations for cyberspace confidence-building measures (CCBMs). Different motivations for adopting these CCBMs shape the way they are put into practice and the cyber stability impacts they may have.

According to this research, confidence-building measures (CBMs) should not be understood as a single approach, since different security contexts and regional dynamics create different situations. Whether or not a particular CCBM can bring transparency and cooperative or constraint benefits depends on the design of a specific implementation, the incentives driving its adoption and the wider context in which it is applied. This discussion paper raises pathways towards confidence for African states and strategic partners and stakeholders to consider when seeking to advance responsible state behaviour in cyberspace impacts from CCBMs