Senior central bank officials from across Africa have acknowledged that the continent’s financial system is significantly underprepared for a rising wave of artificial intelligence-driven cyberattacks, in a rare public admission made at a regional cybersecurity conference in Dakar.
Governors and deputy governors from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana and Tunisia raised concerns during a panel at the International Conference 2026 on Crypto-Assets and Digital Innovations, hosted by the Central Bank of West African States.
Officials warned that rapid technological change, particularly the rise of artificial intelligence tools, is lowering the cost and increasing the sophistication of cyberattacks targeting financial institutions.
One participant noted that the cost of executing advanced cyberattacks has fallen dramatically over the past two decades, making them more accessible to criminal networks.
Weak cyber resilience across African banks
A presentation at the conference showed that African banks currently score 2 out of 5 on cyber maturity assessments, compared with a global average of 3.4.
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Experts also highlighted structural weaknesses in financial systems across the continent, including outdated core banking infrastructure and limited adoption of modern authentication technologies.
Between 25% and 50% of banking systems in Africa are considered obsolete, compared with 10% to 15 percent globally, according to data presented by consultants at the event.
Fewer than 10% of African banking interfaces use modern security protocols, leaving significant exposure to external breaches, especially through fintech platforms and mobile money systems.
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Growing digital exposure and crypto risks
Officials also raised concerns about the rapid expansion of digital financial services and unregulated cryptocurrency activity.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone, an estimated three million people reportedly use Bitcoin through wallets provided by telecommunications operators, often outside formal regulatory oversight.
Central bank officials said this trend is creating additional risks for monetary authorities, particularly in countries where crypto transactions are not fully integrated into financial supervision frameworks.
Call for stronger regulation and supervision
Kealeboga Masalila said cybersecurity governance must be embedded into financial regulation and extended beyond banks to include third-party service providers such as mobile operators and fintech companies.
He warned that concentrated digital financial ecosystems could create systemic risks if not properly supervised.
Similarly, Mourad Abdessalem called for faster development of international standards on crypto-asset statistics, urging institutions such as the IMF and the Bank for International Settlements to accelerate regulatory coordination.
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Officials said African central banks often rely on incomplete or unofficial data to track crypto flows, complicating efforts to manage financial stability risks.
AI intensifies threat landscape
Cybersecurity experts at the conference warned that artificial intelligence is transforming the threat landscape by enabling automated scanning and exploitation of vulnerabilities in banking systems.
They said cyberattacks are becoming more scalable, cheaper and harder to detect, placing additional pressure on already stretched regulatory and security frameworks.
The International Monetary Fund has recently begun integrating crypto-assets into global statistical standards, but officials said practical implementation guidance remains limited, particularly for emerging markets.
Broader financial stability concerns
The conference, held under the patronage of Senegal’s Finance Ministry, brought together representatives from the IMF, World Bank, Bank for International Settlements and the US Federal Reserve, alongside academics and cybersecurity specialists.
The governor of the BCEAO, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, called for African monetary authorities to embrace financial innovation while strengthening safeguards around stability, security and sovereignty.
The meeting ended without a binding regional framework on crypto regulation, but officials said discussions would continue in the coming months as digital asset adoption accelerates across the continent.
Analysts say the widening gap between rapidly evolving cyber threats and slower institutional responses represents one of the most urgent financial stability challenges facing African economies.
They warn that without coordinated investment in cyber infrastructure, training and regulation, financial systems across the continent could remain vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated digital attacks.
