Kenya launches a national cybersecurity center to safeguard its banking sector 🇰🇪🏦

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The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced the creation of the Banking Sector Cybersecurity Operations Centre (BS-SOC) — a major step in the country’s ongoing battle against cyber threats. Unveiled on September 22, 2025, the new center is designed to protect financial institutions and secure millions of digital banking and payment users across Kenya.

A key pillar of the 2024–2027 strategic plan 📊

The BS-SOC aligns with Kenya’s 2024 regulations on cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection and plays a central role in the CBK’s 2024–2027 Strategic Plan.

Its mission: to modernize oversight mechanisms and strengthen the banking sector’s resilience against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.

Housed within the CBK’s Cyber Fusion Unit, the center leverages advanced technologies to:

• collect and analyze threat intelligence,
• coordinate incident response efforts,
• conduct digital forensics and investigations, and
• detect and neutralize cyberattacks in real time.

Aligning cybersecurity rules for banks and fintechs ⚖️

The CBK is also addressing a growing regulatory burden on financial players. It has begun harmonizing its cybersecurity guidelines, originally issued separately in 2017 for commercial banks and 2019 for payment service providers.

Source : Central Bank of Kenya

Until the new framework takes effect, institutions must continue complying with both sets of rules — along with additional requirements introduced in 2024. Notably, all financial entities are now required to report cybersecurity incidents to the BS-SOC within prescribed timelines to ensure faster, more coordinated responses.

Building collective defense against cyber threats 🤝

The CBK is calling for closer collaboration across the financial ecosystem — bringing together banks, fintechs, payment operators, and regulators to share information and strengthen defenses.

According to the central bank, only a collective, coordinated effort can build a truly resilient financial ecosystem capable of withstanding the steady rise in cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure.

With this initiative, Kenya is positioning itself as a secure financial hub for East Africa, taking a proactive stance against the risks that come with the rapid digitization of banking services.

👉🏾Should every African country have its own national cybersecurity center like Kenya?