Cybersecurity Firms See Surge in AI-Powered Attacks Across Africa

Cybersecurity firms report a rapid rise in AI-powered attacks across Africa, with phishing, impersonation and deepfake-enabled fraud targeting governments and enterprises. Deepfake-related fraud has nearly tripled in the past year, and AI-driven phishing campaigns are achieving a 54% click-through rate—about 4.5 times higher than traditional methods.

AI is used to craft messages in regional languages and to impersonate trusted individuals, while voice cloning and synthetic identities proliferate, says Kerissa Varma of Africa at Microsoft, who also notes that Africa is increasingly exposed to identity-based threats. The Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2025 also highlights that Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and South Africa are the most targeted countries, with the number of detected attacks roughly doubled in the past year.

In Africa, business email compromise has become notably successful, accounting for a larger share of attacks there (21% of observed Africa variants) alongside 16% ransomware, underscoring a mix of financially motivated and state-linked activity. Organizations are urged to adapt detection, authentication and awareness strategies and to plan for AI and post-quantum risks, as cyber threats continue to scale across the region.