Building Africa’s Digital Future: Why Cybersecurity is the Foundation for Sustainable Growth

By Yekeen Ajeigbe, Head of Engineering, Deimos

Across all sectors – finance, health, agriculture, education, and beyond – technology is reshaping how Africans access essential services, fueling the growing demand for a digital-first approach. Today, over half a billion Africans rely on online platforms for nearly everything, valuing the speed, accessibility, and convenience they provide. With Africa’s digital economy projected to reach $712 billion by 2050, the demand for digital services is set to continue rising. However, this rapid expansion is accompanied by a significant yet often underestimated threat: cybersecurity.

After years working at Deimos, I’ve seen that the current reality in many organisations is the relegation of security to a post-deployment concern – addressed after product launch, team scaling, or investment acquisition.

The often-cited rationale is the perceived difficulty in quantifying the immediate return on proactive security investments, leading to its deferral. But when cyber incidents occur – and they are happening with increasing regularity – the consequences are severe, potentially destroying years of effort and costing significantly more remediation than prevention.

In South Africa, for example, data breaches have cost businesses over R350 million (around USD 17.7 million) in the last three years. Similarly, Nigerian financial institutions lost over ₦1.1 trillion (approximately $2.6 billion) to cyber threats between 2017 and 2023.

But beyond the numbers, the true cost of security breaches cuts into elements critical to a business’s survival, such as damaged reputations, loss of investor confidence, and, most importantly, trust, which is the very foundation that holds any digital economy together.

Today, many users of digital platforms across sectors don’t necessarily feel secure. They engage with these systems because they have to, not because they trust them. While multiple factors contribute to this perception, cybersecurity remains a major concern. Headlines about data breaches, leaked databases, or compromised user credentials have become all too common, often resulting in real financial and personal harm to users.

Despite this, Africa’s digital ecosystem, particularly in fintech, continues to grow. In 2024, the continent recorded over one billion registered mobile money accounts, with more than half a billion monthly active users, making it the most active mobile money region in the world. This growth points to what’s possible when even a baseline level of trust exists, and it hints at how much more is achievable when it’s deliberately built into the system.

A secure and trusted environment also breeds meaningful, scalable innovation. Open banking offers a powerful example. What began as a closed, cautious system evolved into a platform for creativity and growth once the right guardrails were established. Developers could build with confidence, users felt protected, and the entire ecosystem advanced as a result

Cybersecurity is also the bedrock of business continuity. We’ve seen countless cases, some public, many not, where companies lose access to critical systems or even shut down entirely due to a breach. As harsh as it sounds, these events happen often. Even when the impact isn’t as catastrophic, the cost is usually heavy. Productivity stalls as teams are diverted from strategic work which impacts customer confidence and causes businesses to lose the very trust they’ve spent years building.

And yet, despite all the warning signs, many companies continue to treat cybersecurity as a back-burner issue. In my experience, fewer than 10% of the companies I’ve worked with embed security into their operations from the start. But if we’re to see truly robust growth in digital services, businesses across all sectors must begin to treat security as foundational, essential to both sustainable innovation and long-term resilience. Until that shift happens, the entire ecosystem will remain exposed.

While the financial sector remains the most targeted, largely due to the sheer volume of money flowing through it, other industries like healthcare and insurance are far from safe. They may attract less attention for now, but as the value of personal data continues to rise and digital infrastructure deepens, it’s only a matter of time before the spotlight—and the threat—shifts.

What Needs to Happen Next
We need real, structural change, and it begins with a collective commitment to getting the fundamentals right, starting with what we call “shifting left” at Deimos. This means embedding security into every stage of product development. It’s not only more effective, it’s also significantly more cost-efficient. Retrofitting security into a live system is complex, messy, and usually more expensive.

Also important is awareness. Many breaches occur not because of sophisticated attacks, but because basic safeguards weren’t in place: multi-factor authentication, role-based access control, or simple phishing awareness among employees. These aren’t high-end solutions; they’re foundational practices that should be standard across the board.

There’s also still a significant gap in understanding how to use available tools, from leadership down to frontline teams. Far too many organisations still run on weak passwords, outdated software, or misconfigured cloud environments. Closing this gap requires education that is practical, ongoing, and tailored, not just for engineers, but for everyone who touches a digital system.

Policy and regulation also play a critical role. Cybersecurity must be treated as core digital infrastructure, just like roads or electricity. At a minimum, organisations should be required to implement baseline protections such as HTTPS, encryption, and transparent user data practices. While some policies are already in place, enforcement is often inconsistent, and frameworks can quickly become outdated. Stronger regulation, co-developed with the private sector, can create standards that are realistic, modern, and enforceable.

Ultimately, collaboration will determine how far and how fast we move. Governments and businesses need to build together, creating public-private partnerships that support smarter policies, faster adoption, and greater impact. The future of Africa’s digital economy depends not just on innovation, but on our ability to secure what we’re building.

Africa stands at a pivotal moment, with the potential of its digital economy vast and largely untapped. By seizing the opportunity now to embed robust cybersecurity across the continent, we can unlock unprecedented growth, foster innovation, and build a truly empowered digital society founded on trust and security.