Nigeria has been ranked as the third most affected country by ransomware attacks in Africa, with 3,459 threats detected in 2024, according to INTERPOL’s latest Africa Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2025. The report highlights the rapid rise of cyber-enabled crimes across the continent.
INTERPOL noted that cybercriminals continue to carry out frequent attacks in the region, with incidents happening almost daily. The growing digital landscape in Africa is increasingly attracting sophisticated cybercrime groups, posing major risks to governments, businesses, and individuals.
The report revealed that private sector partners recorded a sharp rise in monthly ransomware detections last year. Egypt topped the list with 17,849 ransomware threats, followed by South Africa with 12,281, Nigeria with 3,459, Kenya with 3,030, Gambia with 1,729, Ghana with 1,671, Tunisia with 1,232, Algeria with 1,117, Morocco with 1,076, and Ethiopia with 953 detections.
Online scams, business email compromise (BEC), ransomware, and sextortion remain the most dangerous cyber threats across Africa. However, INTERPOL pointed out that the scale and impact of these crimes vary based on each country’s infrastructure, security measures, and level of digital awareness.
The report warned that ransomware attacks in 2024 led to significant financial and operational damage across the continent, affecting critical sectors like finance, energy, infrastructure, government services, and telecommunications.
INTERPOL also expressed concern over the rising rate of cybercrime, stating that “two-thirds of African member countries reported that cybercrime accounts for a medium or high proportion of total reported crime.”
The findings revealed that over 30 per cent of crimes reported in West and East Africa are related to online criminal activities. Digital scams, ransomware attacks, BEC, and sextortion continue to dominate the threat landscape.
Another worrying revelation from the report is that 90 per cent of African countries admitted they still need “significant improvement” in their ability to investigate, prosecute, and punish cybercriminals effectively.
Neal Jetton, Director of Cybercrime at INTERPOL, said the fourth edition of the Cyber Threat Assessment in Africa provided an updated overview of the region’s cyber risks. He also highlighted the growing threat of AI-powered fraud, adding that “no country can tackle them alone.”
Afripol’s Interim Executive Director, Amb Jalel Chelba, emphasized that cybersecurity has become much more than a technical issue, saying it is now “a key pillar for stability, peace and sustainable development” in Africa.
The report also showed that suspected scam reports spiked by up to 3,000 per cent in some African countries over the past year, based on data from Kaspersky, one of INTERPOL’s private sector partners.
Despite the growing risks, the report pointed out that most African countries still lack the essential IT infrastructure needed to fight cybercrime. Only 30 per cent have incident reporting systems, 29 per cent have a digital evidence repository, and just 19 per cent maintain a cyber threat intelligence database.
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