Artificial intelligence (AI) is fueling more than half of cybercrime in Africa, enabling criminals to launch faster, more sophisticated attacks as financial losses continue to mount, a new study found.
"Cybercrime has emerged as one of the most significant criminal threats to the region,” Neal Jetton, director of Interpol’s Cybercrime Directorate, said in a report released on August 3 that surveyed 36 countries. "AI is automating every stage of a cyberattack, from reconnaissance and phishing to extortion and evasion.”
The findings underscore how economic and security risks are mounting as Africa’s digital economy expands. Cybercrime inflicted at least US$5bil (RM20.46bil) in direct economic damage across the continent in 2025, while reported financial losses more than doubled from a year earlier to US$484mil (RM1.98bil), according to the report.
The threat is likely to intensify without stronger cross-border cooperation and greater investment in law-enforcement capabilities.
Interpol called for standardised digital forensic capabilities, better public-private intelligence sharing and expanded AI expertise among investigators to counter increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. Only eight per cent of cyber intelligence analysts surveyed possess advanced AI skills, it said.
The study found that one of the fastest-growing threats to Africa is the creation of AI-generated synthetic identities that combine genuine personal information with fabricated details. These digital identities can bypass biometric verification systems and have been used to open bank accounts, obtain loans and register SIM cards, making financial fraud more difficult to detect, it said.
Africa-based cybercriminals are targeting victims in Europe and North America using infrastructure spread across multiple jurisdictions, while East Africa has emerged as a hotspot for mobile money fraud and infrastructure-targeted ransomware, according to the agency.
Financial institutions, telecommunications companies and government agencies emerged as the sectors most heavily targeted by cybercriminals, the report said. – Bloomberg
