Africa recorded more than 421% growth in cyberattacks between 2016 and 2025, outpacing the global increase of 307%, as the continent’s digital economy continues to expand, according to a new Mastercard-commissioned whitepaper.
The report, Africa’s Digital Defense Race, found that Mastercard Cyber Insights recorded 69,236 observed cyber events targeting African organisations in 2025, equivalent to approximately one incident every eight minutes.
The findings highlight the growing need for stronger cybersecurity governance, skilled professionals, resilient infrastructure and closer cooperation between governments and the private sector to protect the continent’s digital progress.
Between 2016 and 2025, mobile money users increased 5.9-fold, digital banking users grew 4.7-fold, and the e-commerce market expanded 5.3-fold. Africa’s digital payments economy is projected to reach USD 1.5 trillion by 2030, according to an earlier report.
Read more on the projection: Mastercard: Africa’s digital payments economy expected to reach USD 1.5 trillion by 2030.
“ Africa’s digital growth is creating real opportunity for people and businesses across the continent, and protecting it has become a leadership priority,” said Shabir Ahmed, Senior Vice President and Customer Solutions Center Lead for Africa at Mastercard.
“As threats become more sophisticated and coordinated, our response has to be just as coordinated,” he added, citing the establishment of the Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence as part of efforts to improve intelligence sharing, knowledge exchange and cybersecurity practices.
The report identifies different cybersecurity priorities across African markets. Nigeria, which hosts one of the continent’s largest fintech ecosystems, accounted for a significant share of observed cyberattacks in 2025. South Africa’s concentrated financial sector was the target of 12.6% of observed attacks across Africa.
Morocco’s institutionalised cybersecurity governance offers another model, while Kenya faces the challenge of protecting the systems supporting financial inclusion and digital growth.
Critical sectors face growing exposure
Technology, the public sector and financial services accounted for 44% of observed cyber activity, reflecting the value of the data and services these industries manage.
Personal information, financial information and customer-facing services collectively represented 27% of targeted assets, underscoring the potential consequences of cyber incidents for individuals, businesses and public institutions.
The report also identifies cybersecurity skills as a major investment opportunity. Africa has approximately 200,000 cybersecurity vacancies, equivalent to 23% of its existing cybersecurity workforce.
The Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence aims to address some of these challenges by bringing security leaders and teams together to exchange expertise and conduct scenario-based exercises to strengthen organisational preparedness.
Learn more about the initiative: Mastercard launches Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence.
Collaboration delivers results
Joint enforcement efforts have demonstrated the value of cross-border cooperation. Between June and August 2025, Interpol’s Operation Serengeti 2.0 resulted in 1,209 arrests across 18 African countries and the recovery of USD 97.4 million.
Details: Interpol: African authorities dismantle major cybercrime and fraud networks.
Mastercard says its cybersecurity approach centres on collaboration with governments, financial institutions and businesses of all sizes. Through its Center of Excellence, the company seeks to strengthen threat intelligence sharing, risk monitoring and collective defence.
The full Africa’s Digital Defense Race whitepaper is available through the Center’s cybersecurity resources.
Download the report: Africa Cybersecurity Whitepaper.