Mastercard whitepaper links rising cyber threats to Africa’s expanding digital economy, with technology, government and financial services accounting for 44% of observed activity.
The report dubbed Africa’s Digital Defense Race, a Mastercard-commissioned whitepaper released on October 12, 2026, identifies cyber resilience, workforce development and cross-sector collaboration as priorities for sustaining the continent’s digital growth. The report found that Africa recorded a more than 421% increase in cyberattacks between 2016 and 2025, outpacing the 307% global increase over the same period, as rapid digital adoption creates new security challenges for businesses, governments and financial institutions.
“Protecting it has become a leadership priority,” said Shabir Ahmed, Mastercard’s Senior Vice President and Customer Solutions Center Lead for Africa. He said coordinated responses would be necessary as cyber threats become more sophisticated, highlighting the role of public-private partnerships in sharing intelligence, knowledge and best practices.
Mastercard Cyber Insights recorded 69,236 observed cyber events targeting African organisations in 2025, equivalent to roughly one event every eight minutes. The report argues that stronger cybersecurity capabilities will be essential as digital financial services, e-commerce and other technology-driven industries expand across the continent.
Africa’s digital payments economy is on track to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030, according to the whitepaper. Between 2016 and 2025, mobile money users increased 5.9 times, digital banking users grew 4.7 times and the e-commerce market expanded 5.3 times.
The growth has widened access to digital services while increasing the importance of protecting the systems, personal information and financial data that underpin them.
Africa’s cybersecurity workforce faces a 200,000-role gap
The report also found shortage of cybersecurity professionals as an emerging major constraint on Africa’s ability to defend its growing digital economy. The whitepaper estimates that approximately 200,000 cybersecurity roles remained unfilled across Africa at the end of 2025, equivalent to 23% of the continent’s existing cybersecurity workforce.
The gap presents an opportunity for investment in professional training, skills development and practical cybersecurity experience. Expanding the talent pool could help organisations strengthen their ability to detect attacks, respond to incidents and protect critical digital infrastructure.
Mastercard is positioning its Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence as part of this response. The initiative brings security leaders and teams together to exchange knowledge, share best practices and improve organisational readiness through scenario-based exercises.
The centre also reflects a broader shift towards treating cyber resilience as a shared responsibility involving governments, financial institutions, technology companies and businesses of different sizes.
Financial services and public institutions face growing exposure
Technology, the public sector and financial services accounted for 44% of observed cyber activity recorded in the whitepaper, reflecting the value of the data and services held by these sectors.
Personal information, financial information and customer-facing services collectively represented 27% of targeted assets, underscoring the potential consequences of attacks for consumers and businesses that depend on digital platforms.
The report highlights different cybersecurity priorities across Africa’s major markets. Nigeria’s large fintech ecosystem accounted for a significant share of observed cyberattacks on the continent, while South Africa’s concentrated financial sector was the target of 12.6% of observed attacks.
Morocco has developed a more institutionalised cybersecurity governance structure, according to the report, while Kenya’s priorities include strengthening resilience around the systems that support financial inclusion and digital growth.
These differences point to the need for cybersecurity strategies that reflect the structure of individual markets while supporting cross-border cooperation against threats that can affect multiple countries.
Regional cooperation delivers measurable results
The whitepaper cites Interpol’s Operation Serengeti 2.0 as an example of the results that coordinated action can achieve. Between June and August 2025, the operation led to 1,209 arrests across 18 African countries and the recovery of $97.4 million, according to the report.
The operation illustrates the role of cooperation between law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders in responding to cybercrime that crosses national borders.
Mastercard says its Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence is designed to support similar collaboration by enabling public- and private-sector organisations to share threat intelligence, monitor risks and strengthen collective cyber defence.
As Africa’s digital economy expands, the challenge will be to ensure that cybersecurity investment keeps pace with the adoption of digital payments, banking, commerce and other technology-enabled services.