Mr. Kaleem Ahmed USMANI
Nationality: Mauritian
Country of Residence: Mauritius
Organisation or affiliation: Computer Emergency Response Team of Mauritius (CERT-MU), Ministry of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation, Republic of Mauritius
Position: Officer-in-Charge, CERT-MU
Brief Motivation
I am motivated to serve on the AFRINIC Board of Directors to actively contribute to the sustainable development and governance of Internet resources in Africa. With a background in ICT policy, cyber security, and multi-stakeholder engagement, I bring a strong regional perspective and a commitment to transparency, accountability, and technical innovation.
My experience in regional and international Internet governance forums, including involvement in UN cyber processes, African Union Expert in cybersecurity, SADC positions in ICT governance and cybersecurity as well as national digital policy formulation, positions me to effectively represent stakeholder interests and promote digital inclusion. I aim to enhance AFRINIC’s role as a reliable, community-driven registry, ensuring equitable distribution of IP resources and promoting capacity-building across the continent.
I believe that a strong, well-governed AFRINIC is essential for Africa’s digital future, and I am committed to collaborating with all stakeholders to strengthen the organization’s resilience, responsiveness, and regional relevance.
Professional Background
Dr. Kaleem Ahmed Usmani is a seasoned cybersecurity professional with extensive experience in national and international cyber defense initiatives including for the Internet registries.
I am leading the Computer Emergency Response Team of Mauritius (CERT-MU), a national CERT of Mauritius which is a department operating under the Ministry of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation, Republic of Mauritius. In this role, i oversee national cybersecurity strategies, incident response coordination, and cyber policy implementation.
As part of the cybersecurity agenda and under my leadership, Mauritius has adopted a series of measures in terms of infrastructure, legislation, policy strategies for capacity building, data management system and preventive strategies to make Mauritius a digital gateway for Africa and other countries including the elaboration of cybersecurity initiatives in collaboration with local, regional and international agencies.
In 2021, I spearheaded the technical drafting of the Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Act 2021 in alignment with the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime as well as the Malabo Convention. The new law aims at developing a more robust framework for the protection of the Mauritian cyberspace, by providing new criminal offences related to cybersecurity and cybercrime. The new law has been enforced.
Currently, I am driving ITU Academy Training Global Centre in the area of cybersecurity which was setup in 2020. The Centre is helping Mauritius as well as the other regions of the world to build capacity. The center is used as a resource point for all countries to strengthen capacity to address cybercrime through training, education and professional development of law enforcement, criminal justice community, parliamentarians, regulators, operators and technical staff; facilitate the development of cybercrime policies; the development of a national law and procedures with regards to Mutual Legal Assistance and the establishment of international cooperation.
I am representing Mauritius in various international cybersecurity forums. Notably, I have served as the country's representative to the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts on Cyber, contributing to global discussions on cyber norms and policies. Currently I have also contributed to the UN’s Open Ended Working Group as the African Union Expert. As part of the international collaboration, I have been supporting the affiliation of African CERT Teams with FIRST. Zambia, Ghana, Rwanda, Malawi are some of the examples.
The other projects which I am leading right now includes the implementation of the National Cyber Crisis Management Plan, the development of the Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Policy, the implementation of national cybersecurity strategy, coordination of Government SOC activities and the national honeypot project.
I am committed to enhance cyber resilience both at the national and international level.