Mastercard has cautioned that Kenya’s rapid expansion of mobile money, especially the M-Pesa platform, is creating a new focal point for cybercriminal activity.
The firm’s Africa Cybersecurity White Paper places Kenya together with Nigeria, South Africa and Morocco as the five-plus markets responsible for more than half of all cyber-threat incidents recorded across the continent.
Mobile money transactions in Africa have multiplied six times between 2016 and 2025, while e-commerce activity has risen roughly fourfold and digital-banking users have increased 4.7 times, according to the same paper.
“Mobile money has become national infrastructure in Kenya,” said Shabir Ahmed, Senior Vice President, Customer Solutions Centre Lead, Africa, Mastercard, highlighting the sector’s growing exposure.
Ahmed added that “Digital growth is outperforming cyber defenses,” warning that the surge in online activity is outpacing protective measures.
The report notes that cyber attacks on African organisations grew by more than 421 per cent from 2016 to 2025, compared with a 307 per cent rise globally.
Mastercard’s cyber-intelligence unit logged 69,236 incidents targeting African entities last year, equating to roughly one breach every eight minutes.
Technology firms, public institutions and financial services together accounted for 44 per cent of the observed attacks, while personal data, financial information and customer-facing services made up 27 per cent of the assets targeted.
Nigeria and South Africa were highlighted as major hotspots, with the latter responsible for 12.6 per cent of continent-wide incidents; Kenya was flagged for the need to safeguard the platforms that underpin financial inclusion.
The paper identifies a shortage of about 200,000 cybersecurity professionals across Africa, representing 23 per cent of the current workforce, as the principal weakness and investment opportunity.
In response, Mastercard has established an Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence to foster collaboration between public and private actors.
“That is why we launched the Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, bringing the public and private sectors together to share intelligence, knowledge and best practices,” Ahmed said.
The report also cites Interpol’s Operation Serengeti 2.0, which resulted in 1,209 arrests in 18 African nations and the recovery of $97.4 million (about KSh12.6 billion).
Mastercard projects Africa’s digital economy could reach $1.5 trillion by 2030, underscoring the importance of securing financial transactions and consumer data as the sector expands.
