for the uninitiated, and if you can put a number on it, you know, how many types of cyber attacks are we talking about that are out there? i think when we talk about attacks, we can talk in the numbers of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, in terms of how much is really happening on a daily basis. for sure, the thing we hear most about in the news these days is ra nsomwa re. and ransomware as a service is something that continually is taking off. what that means is there s actually entities out there that are using this to to make profit, to fund organised crime, to fund nation states. and that certainly is something that has captivated us. but we also see it as part of an overall increasing attack vector. where are the hotspots for cyber attacks right now, both in terms of, well, industries and countries? for sure, health care is under attack and it s particularly concerning. we see it in manufacturing, environments with critical
should be doing that. so yes, china plays a role in africa, but so does the united states. florie, the big boss of corporate council on african. an absolute pleasure having you on this show. good luck with everything and i ll talk to you soon. great. thank you so much for having me. so, with customers for its valuable natural resources just queuing up at the door, africa seems to be in a strong position, but it s also a continent full of countries with huge debts to the rest of the world. so, just how is it going to turn its opportunities into prosperity? well, that s something i ve been discussing with the man in charge of trade at the african union. ambassador albert muchanga, a real pleasure having you on the show. and albert, let s start with this, because this year we ve seen a big increase in the number of foreign leaders visiting africa. they all want to increase trade ties with africa. why do you think that is? well, this is part of the international economy. there are a lot of
more transparent . do you share that concern? how do you make sure that happens? transparency is very much important. one of the things that we fully want to reach an agreement on is to be very open about the issues that are on the table. there should be no hidden clauses. there have been hidden clauses in the past. i think that is something we need to take into the future. and albert, my friend, let me end on this. one thing that you ve been working on and you re still trying to get it fully implemented is the african continental free trade area. now, once you get that, will this trade area, do you think, leave the african union to eventually be negotiating on trade as a single bloc, just like the eu does? and in a way, that united approach surely puts africa in a very strong position to make better deals.
sector have to deal with the fallout. matt, let s talk about artificial intelligence. i m wondering, do you think ai poses a threat to humanity? because, as you know, back in march, we had key figures in this space, such as elon musk and the apple co founder steve wozniak. they signed a letter calling for al development to be suspended because they believe that the race to develop ai is just out of control. so, as the big boss of a company that helps keep some of the biggest companies on the planet safe from ai threats, do you agree with them? all of the excitement that everybody feels about what it can contribute to code development and productivity and efficiency also comes as a double edged sword. you know, the same tools can be used to create more malicious malware, can be used to create actually better deep fakes. it can be used to actually do something called social engineering, which allows bad actors to be able to phish more effectively and steal credentials from the likes of y
of the corporate council on africa. it s a washington based organisation that works to boost trade between the us and africa. florie liser, a real pleasure having you on the show. and, florie, let me start with this because you spend a lot of time in africa working with business leaders to help them grow their presence there as well as politicians. florie, i mjust wondering which industries in areas of the african economy are getting the most attention right now? so in terms of particular sectors. you know, obviously, agribusiness is an important one. africa has, ithink, something like 60% of the world s arable. and there s a lot of opportunity, but not just in basic farming, but really in adding value to their products. another area that i think is really interesting is health. i really do have to mention one more, which is in the area of renewable energy, obviously solar and hydro