The Mastercard‑commissioned whitepaper “Africa’s Digital Defense Race” highlights that Africa’s digital economy is expanding rapidly, with mobile money, digital banking and e‑commerce users growing multiple‑fold between 2016 and 2025.

At the same time, cyber‑threat activity has surged, with 69,236 observed cyber events targeting African organisations in 2025 – roughly one incident every eight minutes.

The whitepaper records a 421% increase in cyberattacks across Africa from 2016 to 2025, outpacing the global rise of 307% over the same period.

In Kenya, the report stresses the need to bolster resilience around the systems that underpin financial inclusion and digital growth, noting that technology, the public sector and financial services together account for 44% of observed cyber activity.

The whitepaper identifies a talent gap of roughly 200,000 unfilled cybersecurity roles – about 23% of the current workforce – as the clearest investment opportunity for the continent.

To address these challenges, Mastercard has launched the Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, which brings together public and private actors to share intelligence, conduct scenario‑based exercises and foster collective defence.

Shabir Ahmed, Mastercard’s Senior Vice President for Customer Solutions in Africa, says coordinated response is now a leadership priority as threats become more sophisticated.

Recent collaborative actions, such as Interpol’s Operation Serengeti 2.0, resulted in 1,209 arrests across 18 African countries and the recovery of $97.4 million between June and August 2025, illustrating the impact of joint enforcement.