The 2025 Africa Cyberthreat Assessment Report, released by INTERPOL in Lyon, France, highlights a significant and troubling rise in cyber-related crime across the African continent, with Western and Eastern Africa experiencing a particular surge.
According to the report, cybercrime now accounts for over 30 percent of all reported criminal incidents in these regions, marking a notable shift in Africa’s threat landscape.
The findings underscore the rapidly evolving nature of digital threats and an urgent need for enhanced law enforcement and prosecution capabilities.
Surge in Cyber-Related Crime
Phishing-based online scams have emerged as the most frequently reported cybercrime, intensified by substantial increases in ransomware attacks, business email compromise (BEC), and digital sextortion.
Data from INTERPOL’s private sector partners reveals that suspected scam notifications soared by up to 3,000 percent in some African nations over the past year.
Ransomware also continues to escalate, with South Africa and Egypt experiencing the highest detection rates, followed by Nigeria and Kenya, all of which are considered highly digitized economies.
These attacks have not spared critical infrastructure, with notable incidents including breaches at Kenya’s Urban Roads Authority and Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics.
BEC-related incidents have grown dramatically, driven in part by transnational syndicates such as Black Axe, which have built sophisticated, multi-million-dollar criminal enterprises operating from West Africa.
Meanwhile, reports of digital sextortion where threat actors use explicit images, either authentic or AI-generated, for blackmail have surged, with 60 percent of African countries noting an uptick in such cases.
The AI element in generating synthetic explicit content is further complicating law enforcement efforts.
Outpaces Law Enforcement Capacity
However, the accelerating pace of cybercrime far outstrips the existing legal and technical frameworks designed to combat it.
Seventy-five percent of African countries say their current legal frameworks and prosecution mechanisms are insufficient, while 95 percent cite a lack of specialized training, resources, and tools to combat digital crime effectively.
Additionally, most countries lack the basic IT infrastructure required for incident reporting, digital evidence storage, and cyberthreat intelligence sharing.
Inadequate international cooperation, slow procedural responses, and difficulties accessing data across borders exacerbate law enforcement challenges, with 86 percent of nations calling for improved mechanisms for cross-border collaboration.
The need for engagement with the private sector is also underscored, as 89 percent of African countries reported difficulties in public-private cybercrime partnerships due to unclear cooperation channels and organizational unreadiness. Despite these obstacles, some progress has been made.
Enhanced legal frameworks aligned with international standards and investments in cybercrime units and digital forensics are beginning to bolster Africa’s cyber resilience.
This is evidenced by successful international operations such as Operation Serengeti and Operation Red Card, which collectively facilitated more than a thousand arrests and dismantled hundreds of thousands of malicious networks.
INTERPOL’s report concludes with strategic recommendations to further improve Africa’s ability to counter cyber threats.
These include strengthening regional and international cooperation, broadening public awareness and prevention measures, and leveraging emerging technologies to stay ahead of adversaries.
The report forms part of INTERPOL’s African Joint Operation against Cybercrime (AFJOC) initiative, supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
It draws on intelligence and incident data from member states and private sector cybersecurity contributors such as Bi.Zone, Group-IB, Kaspersky, and Trend Micro.
The overall message is clear: cybercrime is now a leading criminal threat in Africa, demanding urgent, coordinated, and technologically sophisticated responses from both states and the private sector.
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