Cybersecurity regulation in Sierra Leone (2026)

The Cyber Security and Crime Act, 2021 was passed by Parliament on 23 June 2021 and assented to/enacted in November 2021. It aims to protect critical national information infrastructure, promote cybersecurity, enable collection of electronic evidence, and harmonise national law with the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime.

The Act includes provisions on reporting cyber threats (Section 53) and breach of confidence by a service provider (Section 54), establishing obligations to report cyber incidents and breaches.

The NC3 was created by the 2021 Act of Parliament and is mandated to handle all cybersecurity matters nationally, including responding to incidents. It evolved from a small cybersecurity unit in the Ministry of Information and Communications.

On 14 January 2025 the NC3 launched Sierra Leone's National CSIRT (SL-CSIRT) and a National Digital Forensics Lab. The SL-CSIRT is tasked with establishing, coordinating and supporting sectoral CSIRTs across critical sectors including Government, Health, Finance, Energy and Telecoms.

Sierra Leone has adopted a National Cybersecurity Strategy (published by the Ministry of Communication, Technology and Innovation), setting strategic priorities for governance, critical infrastructure protection and incident response, complementing the 2021 Act.

The National Communications Authority (NatCA), established under the NatCA Act 2022, has a mandate to promote cybersecurity, fraud prevention and CSIRT development; the Sierra Leone Police operates a specialised cybercrime unit and the Office of the Attorney General acts as central authority for cybercrime and electronic-evidence matters.