As Africa emerges as a global leader in mobile money and digital innovation, a wave of cyberattacks is threatening to derail its progress. Experts warn that without stronger, homegrown cybersecurity systems, the continent’s digital future could be at risk.
At the turn of the millennium, Africa was largely disconnected from the internet. Today, while only 38 percent of Africans are online compared to a global average of 68 percent, the continent has built a fast-growing digital ecosystem that underpins economic development and job creation for a youthful population, 70 percent of whom are under 30. Financial inclusion has become the most visible symbol of this transformation.
Sub-Saharan Africa now hosts 1.1 billion mobile money accounts, more than half of the global total. The region accounts for 74 percent of all mobile money transactions worldwide, processing over 81 billion transactions worth $1.1 trillion in 2024.
Yet this digital momentum is increasingly under siege. Cybercrime in Africa spans phishing, malware, ransomware, identity theft, business email compromise, social media fraud, large-scale breaches and digital sextortion. Once viewed as a technical nuisance, cyberattacks now pose a systemic threat to economic stability and social trust.
“Cybersecurity is not merely a technical issue; it has become a fundamental pillar of stability, peace, and sustainable development in Africa,” said Jalel Chelba, acting executive director of Afripol. He warned that cybercrime threatens state sovereignty, institutional resilience, citizen confidence and the functioning of economies.
From government agencies and banks to telecom operators and critical infrastructure, the question is no longer whether cybercriminals will strike, but how often. A PwC survey in East Africa found that 74 percent of businesses now rank cyber risk as their top concern, ahead of macroeconomic volatility and geopolitical risk.
Recent victims include Eneo in Cameroon, South Africa Airways, Kenya Urban Roads Authority, Telecom Namibia, Morocco’s National Social Security Fund and the Bank of Uganda. In November, a breach at the central bank reportedly cost Uganda $16.8 million.
Across the continent, cybercrime is estimated to drain more than $4 billion annually, equivalent to around 10 percent of GDP in some economies. Countries from Kenya and Nigeria to Egypt, Morocco and even South Sudan are affected, with low digital literacy compounding the problem. Only half of African countries include computer skills in school curricula, compared to a global average of 85 percent.
Despite the scale of the threat, responses remain fragmented. Africa continues to rely heavily on external funding and direction to counter cybercrime. The African Union’s Malabo Convention on cybersecurity and data protection, adopted in 2014 and effective since 2023, is widely seen as outdated, especially as criminals deploy AI-driven tools such as WormGPT and DarkBERT. Only 15 countries have ratified it, limiting regional coordination.
Interpol’s 2025 Africa Cyberthreat Assessment describes the continent as a “landscape in flux,” with cybercrime accounting for more than 30 percent of reported crimes in parts of West and East Africa. Operations such as Serengeti 2.0 have dismantled thousands of malicious infrastructures and led to over 1,000 arrests, but these efforts are largely foreign-funded.
Some countries are beginning to act. Kenya recorded 2.5 billion cyberthreat incidents in the first quarter of 2025 alone, a 201.7 percent increase quarter-on-quarter. In response, the Central Bank of Kenya established a cybersecurity operations centre to provide threat intelligence, incident response and digital forensics.
Governments and companies are also increasing budgets. Kearney estimates Africa must spend $22 billion between 2022 and 2026 to close cybersecurity gaps. Kenyan banks already allocate up to $4.6 million annually for cyber defence.
“Any organisation that is not embedding cybersecurity in its strategy is walking blind,” said privacy specialist Mugambi Laibuta, noting growing investment in talent and systems.
Africa’s digital rise is inseparable from cyber risk. Sustaining the continent’s transformation will depend on whether its defences can grow faster than the threats.
