Mastercard has projected that Africa’s digital payments economy will reach $1.5 trillion by 2030, emphasizing the need for enhanced cybersecurity measures to support this growth amid an uptick in cyberattacks and a shortage of cybersecurity professionals.
In a statement released on Monday, Mastercard stressed the importance of improved cybersecurity governance, infrastructure, skills, and collaboration to bolster the continent’s digital landscape.
The insights were detailed in a new white paper titled “Africa’s Digital Defense Race,” which noted that the number of mobile money users in Africa is expected to grow nearly 6-fold from 2016 to 2025. Digital banking users are projected to increase 4.7 times, while e-commerce transactions are anticipated to expand by 5.3 times.
The report highlights that between 2016 and 2025, cyberattacks in Africa surged by over 421%, compared to a global increase of 307%. Mastercard Cyber Insights reported 69,236 cyber incidents targeting African organizations in 2025, averaging about one incident every eight minutes.
The countries identified as facing significant cybersecurity challenges include Nigeria, South Africa, Morocco, and Kenya, with South Africa’s financial sector alone accounting for 12.6% of all cyberattacks across the continent.
The technology and public and financial services sectors combined represented 44% of the cyber activity reported, underscoring their critical role in the digital economy. The report indicated that personal and financial information, as well as customer services, accounted for 27% of targeted assets, further highlighting the need for robust protective measures.
Shabir Ahmed, Senior Vice-President and Customer Solutions Centre Lead for Africa at Mastercard, stated that safeguarding the continent’s digital transformation has become a priority for leadership across sectors. “Africa’s digital growth is creating real opportunity for people and businesses across the continent,” he said, noting the necessity for coordinated responses to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
To address these challenges, Mastercard has established the Africa Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence, which aims to facilitate information sharing, knowledge exchange, and the implementation of best practices among public and private organizations.
The report also highlighted a critical need for workforce development, estimating that Africa had around 200,000 unfilled cybersecurity positions as of the end of 2025, representing about 23% of the continent’s current cybersecurity workforce. The need for targeted training programs and skills development was emphasized.
The Centre of Excellence further enhances organizational preparedness through scenario-based exercises designed to improve security teams’ responses to potential threats.
Mastercard pointed to successful collaborative efforts in addressing cybercrime, citing INTERPOL’s Operation Serengeti 2.0, which resulted in 1,209 arrests across 18 African nations from June to August 2025, with the recovery of $97.4 million in stolen funds.
The organization committed to ongoing collaboration with governments, financial institutions, and businesses to enhance cybersecurity capabilities and monitor risks, stressing that sustained investment and teamwork will be vital to protecting Africa’s expanding digital economy.
