Interpol Warns of Rapid Rise in Cybercrime on African Continent – Source: www.infosecurity-magazine.com

Cybercrime now accounts for more than 30% of all reported crime in Western and Eastern Africa, and is increasing sharply elsewhere on the continent, Interpol has warned.

The policing group revealed this week that two-thirds of African member countries claim cyber-related offenses now account for a “medium-to-high” (i.e. 10-30% or 30%+) share of all crimes.

According to Interpol’s 2025 Africa Cyberthreat Assessment Report, some of the most prevalent cybercrime types are phishing-related scams, ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), digital sextortion and attacks on critical infrastructure, such as Kenya’s Urban Roads Authority (KURA) or Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

It cited figures for 2024 claiming that:

• Suspected scam notifications surged 3000% in some African countries (Kaspersky)
• Ransomware detections were highest in South Africa (17,849), Egypt (12,281), Nigeria (3,459) and Kenya (3,030), according to Trend Micro
• 11 African countries account for most BEC activity, with threat groups in West Africa particularly sophisticated and well funded
• 60% of African member countries reported an increase in reports of digital sextortion

Read more on African cybercrime: Hackers Use Open-Source Offensive Cyber Tools to Attack Financial Businesses in Africa

Improvements Needed Across the Board

Part of the challenge for policing on the continent is a lack of cooperation between African countries, legal frameworks that aren’t fit for purpose and poor cybersecurity “infrastructure.”

Interpol claimed that only 30% of countries have an incident reporting system, 29% have a digital evidence repository and 19% maintain a cyber-threat intelligence database.

Some 86% of member countries said international cooperation is poor, and a similar share (89%) said the same about public-private partnerships.

Three-quarters (75%) told Interpol that legal frameworks and prosecution capacity need to improve.

On a more positive note, Interpol claimed that several member countries have harmonized their cybersecurity laws with international standards and enhanced cybercrime response by investing in specialized units and digital forensics infrastructure.

Operation Red Card and Operation Serengeti are testament to this good work – the latter last year helping to disrupt cybercrime networks responsible for an estimated $193m in financial losses and 35,000 global victims.

Interpol’s African Joint Operation against Cybercrime (AFJOC) is focused on further improving African law enforcement capabilities.

The Interpol report makes recommendations in six core areas:

• Strengthening national capabilities
• Enhancing legal and policy frameworks
• Improving regional and international cooperation
• Expanding prevention and public awareness
• Deepening public-private partnerships
• Using emerging technologies for cybercrime prevention

“Cybersecurity is not merely a technical issue; it has become a fundamental pillar of stability, peace, and sustainable development in Africa,” argued Jalel Chelba, acting executive director of Afripol.

“It directly concerns the digital sovereignty of states, the resilience of our institutions, citizen trust and the proper functioning of our economies.”