A new report from Interpol, released in May, paints a stark picture of ransomware attacks crippling hospitals, phishing scams draining bank accounts, and AI-fueled extortion schemes preying on the vulnerable, with estimated financial losses exceeding $3 billion from 2019 to 2025.
The “Interpol Africa Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2025,” the fourth edition of an annual analysis compiled from surveys of 43 out of 54 African member countries, operational intelligence, and private-sector data, highlights how cybercriminals are exploiting the continent’s rapid connectivity surge.
Details of Report
Online scams, including phishing, top the list of threats, accounting for 34 percent of detected incidents, while ransomware and business email compromise (BEC) follow closely, often targeting critical sectors like finance, healthcare, and government.
“These threats are not constrained by borders—they are transnational, fast-moving, and increasingly sophisticated,” wrote Neal Jetton, Interpol’s director of the cybercrime directorate, in the report’s foreword.
“They target the very infrastructure that underpins progress.” Amb. Jalel Chelba, acting executive director of Afripol, the African Union’s police cooperation mechanism, echoed this urgency, calling cybersecurity “a fundamental pillar of stability, peace, and sustainable development in Africa.“
The report, informed by partners like Group-IB, Kaspersky, Trend Micro, and Bi.Zone, reveals regional variations in the cyberthreat landscape. In West Africa, hubs like Nigeria and Ghana are hotspots for BEC and romance scams, with syndicates like Black Axe generating billions through global fraud networks.
East Africa, led by Ethiopia as the world’s most malware-targeted nation in 2024, grapples with SIM swap fraud and sextortion.
Central and Southern Africa face infrastructure attacks, while North Africa contends with localized phishing in Arabic and French.
Financial Impacts
Ransomware detections rose in 2024, with groups like LockBit and Hunters International hitting South Africa’s pension fund and Namibia’s telecoms, leaking terabytes of data and disrupting essential services.
In one Nigerian fintech breach, hackers siphoned $7 million. BEC schemes, often AI-enhanced with deepfakes, have stolen tens of millions, as seen in a case where a Nigerian-led ring defrauded U.S. real estate victims of $19.6 million.
Digital sextortion, a form of online image-based sexual abuse, has surged, with over 60 percent of countries noting increases. Meta’s removal of 63,000 Nigeria-linked Instagram accounts in mid-2024 underscores the scale, though underreporting due to stigma masks the full extent, particularly among youth and women.
Enforcement Challenges
Legal frameworks lag, with 65 percent of countries unchanged in the past year and many misaligned with standards like the Budapest Convention.
Capacity gaps are acute: 95 percent lack adequate training or tools, and cross-border cooperation via mutual legal assistance remains sluggish. Public-private partnerships are underdeveloped, with 89 percent needing improvement.
Yet the report spotlights progress amid the peril. Tunisia ratified the Budapest Convention, Nigeria amended its Cybercrimes Act, and nations like Algeria, Seychelles, Benin, Togo, and Congo bolstered units and labs. Awareness campaigns reached millions: Ghana’s National Cyber Security Awareness Month, Rwanda’s “Tekana Online,” and Interpol’s #ThinkTwice initiative.
Operations like Serengeti, which netted over 1,000 arrests and dismantled 134,000 malicious infrastructures in late 2024, recovered assets linked to $193 million in losses, demonstrating the power of collaboration.
Kaspersky, a contributor to the report, emphasized the need for data sharing: “Fighting cybercrime requires global collaboration,” the company stated in a July post. Group-IB noted the $3 billion loss figure, underscoring the economic toll.
Interpol’s recommendations call for unified action: Expand cyber units, harmonize laws, ratify treaties, boost awareness, forge private partnerships, and leverage AI for detection. “It is only by working together… that we can secure Africa’s digital future,” Jetton concluded.
As the continent aims for Agenda 2063’s vision of a digitally empowered Africa, the report serves as a wake-up call. Without swift reforms, experts warn, the gap between innovation and security could widen, leaving millions exposed in an increasingly connected world.
This article was edited with AI and reviewed by human editors
