Africa faces huge cybercrime threat as the pace of digitalisation increases

Date: June 16, 2022
Source: Computer Crime Research Center


frican governments and corporations are facing the prospect of having to invest hugely in digital security, as cyberattacks are becoming a much greater threat to the region and its internet traffic is doubling every 18 months.

By the end of 2020, 495 million people in sub-Saharan Africa subscribed to mobile services ??“ representing 46% of the region’s population ??“ an increase of almost 20 million on 2019, according to GSMA, a telecommunications association. By the same time, 303 million people in the region were connected to the mobile internet. Registered mobile money wallets in Africa topped 621 million in 2021 ??“ a 17% increase on 2020. The value of Africa’s mobile money transactions jumped by 39% to $701.4bn in 2021.

Africa’s international internet bandwidth leapt tenfold to 12 terabits per second (Tbps) during the decade until 2019. In the next ten years, the number of internet users in Africa is expected to surge by 11% ??“ representing 16% of the total global amount ??“ according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank. Furthermore, Africans have started to transition from 3G to 4G: in 2020, 4G accounted for just 12% of the continent’s mobile phone connections, but it is expected to surpass 28% by 2025, according to GSMA. Research from the IFC and Google states that Africa’s e-economy is expected to contribute $180bn to the overall economy by 2025, rising to $712bn by 2050.

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