The Rising Tide of Cybercrime Concerns in Africa

An Africa-wide cybersecurity awareness survey reports a sharp rise in concern about cybercrime (58% vs. 29% in 2023), echoing Interpol’s findings of increasing cybercrime and losses, including over R1 billion stolen via digital banking in South Africa. Threats are shifting toward human-focused tactics such as phishing and vishing, with AI-generated content used for impersonation, extortion, and data theft, and even coercion to access banking apps. While mobile financial service adoption is high (85%), expanding the attack surface, knowledge gaps persist—83% feel confident recognizing incidents, yet 53% don’t know what ransomware is and 35% have lost money to scams—with declining privacy caution. The report calls for strengthened, mobile-centric security education and sustained vigilance across the continent in 2025.