Africa’s rapid digital transformation is creating new economic opportunities while widening the attack surface for cybercriminals, with Uganda warning that cybersecurity safeguards are struggling to keep pace.
Uganda Police Director of Forensic Services Andrew Mubiru said African countries must move beyond building digital infrastructure and invest more deliberately in protecting it. He likened the continent’s digital environment to a “glass house with fancy curtains” that needs stronger walls as its exposure grows. The warning comes as Uganda’s digital economy expands rapidly. Bank of Uganda Governor Michael Atingi-Ego said about 23 million Ugandans, nearly half the population, are now online, supporting commerce, financial inclusion, education and public services. Yet cybersecurity risks are rising alongside connectivity, with Mubiru saying cases handled by his unit have increased from 129 in 2019 to about 833.
Financial institutions remain prime targets because of the money moving through them, but Mubiru said the threat is increasingly coming from within organisations as well. He said, “The insider threat is real,” warning that the risk will grow as Uganda digitises critical infrastructure and expands projects such as oil refineries and digital government services. Business email compromise is also driving financial losses, particularly among companies dealing with international partners, while artificial intelligence is creating new risks around digital identity. Criminals can increasingly manipulate identities and voices, raising concerns as digital identification becomes more embedded in public and financial services.
The challenge is not confined to national borders. Mubiru cited a recent attack on a bank in neighbouring Rwanda in which stolen funds were transferred to and withdrawn in Uganda, illustrating how cybercrime can quickly become a cross-border investigation. Uganda’s response is also being hampered by delayed reporting and fragmented institutional processes. Some organisations report incidents to the Uganda Communications Commission, others to the National Information Technology Authority Uganda, while some turn to private cybersecurity firms. “We need to harmonise across board,” said Mubiru, calling for closer cooperation between government agencies, regulators, law enforcement and the private sector.
He also urged Uganda to complete ratification of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime and domesticate the African Union’s Malabo Convention, arguing that stronger international frameworks could improve cooperation and access to advanced digital forensics tools. With Africa’s increasingly connected economies, the message is becoming harder to ignore: digital expansion without matching investment in resilience could turn economic progress into a growing source of vulnerability. As Atingi-Ego put it, institutions need to “build security in, do not bolt it on.”
