Nigeria has recorded the highest number of cyber-attacks in Africa in 2025, with about 16,700 incidents, accounting for 24.4 per cent of the continent’s total, according to a Mastercard white paper.

The report, Africa’s Digital Defence Race, said Mastercard’s Cyber Insights platform recorded 69,236 events across Africa during the year, averaging one every eight minutes. Nigeria, South Africa, Morocco and Kenya accounted for 54.7 per cent of the total.

Nigeria recorded an average of 1,410 events monthly, with attacks peaking at 4,195 in September. The month also saw the highest number of attacks across Africa, at about 10,600.

Interpol data cited in the report put ransomware detections in Nigeria at 5,822 in 2025.

One of the incidents was a September breach of Princeps Credit Systems, a micro-lender with more than 70,000 clients, for which the Killsec group claimed responsibility.

Deloitte estimates that Nigeria lost more than $3 billion to cybercrime between 2019 and 2025, averaging about $500 million per year.

However, the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System reported a 51 per cent decline in electronic payment fraud losses in 2025, attributing the decline to coordinated industry action.

On regulation, the report noted that the 2024 amendment to the Cybercrimes Act reduced the deadline for reporting cyber incidents from seven days to 72 hours and introduced a N2 million fine for non-compliance. It also cited the Nigeria Data Protection Commission’s N766.24 million fine against MultiChoice Nigeria over the illegal cross-border transfer of personal data.