Allan Juma
Africa’s cybersecurity skills shortage is not just a technical staffing issue; it’s an urgent business emergency that threatens to derail the continent’s digital transformation entirely. Estimates point to a shortfall of hundreds of thousands of skilled professionals, with many businesses relying solely on overwhelmed generalist IT teams to battle increasingly sophisticated cyberthreats. Others simply remain unprotected. Either way, the risk of cyberattacks continues to grow, posing a critical threat to business continuity.
Cybersecurity breaches cost African businesses US$3.5 billion annually and billions more from missed opportunities caused by reputational damage. Particularly for industries that work with sensitive data, like healthcare or insurance, a cyberattack is much more than an IT headache. It’s a reputational crisis. It can mean operational downtime, lost customers, stolen funds, breached data, and regulatory fines. In the worst cases, it can shut down companies entirely.
As a result, cybersecurity capabilities have become a critical screening factor for international investors, insurers, and potential partners evaluating African firms. Without demonstrable security measures, businesses are increasingly excluded from global opportunities – a digital redlining that threatens to create a new economic divide.
The crux of the issue lies in the rapidly evolving nature of cyber threats, which demands a workforce that is not only technically proficient but also continuously updated on the latest threats, trends, and tactics. The current educational and training pathways, however, have been unable to keep pace with these demands, leading to a shortage of adequately skilled professionals.
At the same time, the region’s growing strategic relevance, due to its economic development and evolving digital landscape, makes it a prime target for cyberattacks. As African businesses rush to digitise their operations – in order to streamline operations and stay relevant – they inadvertently open themselves up to a greater range of cyberattacks. More digital touchpoints mean more opportunity for cybercriminals to access data – and without a trained digital security team or effective software in place, businesses are leaving themselves vulnerable.
Solving this challenge overnight is not feasible. The real, deep-rooted reasons behind the cybersecurity skills gap in Africa go far beyond just “not enough trained people”. It’s a complex web of historical, systemic, economic, and cultural factors. Limited educational infrastructure, brain drain of talent to higher-paying international markets, and insufficient investment in technology education all contribute to this critical shortage.
While long-term solutions require partnerships between governments, educational institutions, and industries—from school curricula to university programs—businesses facing immediate threats cannot wait for these systemic changes to materialise. Organisations must take emergency measures by implementing comprehensive security training for all personnel and adopting automated security solutions to compensate for staffing shortfalls. They can also partner with managed cybersecurity service providers who can deliver immediate protection while internal capabilities develop.
Purpose-built cybersecurity software is a quick route to protection for a business’s existing tech – as well as for any new tech it integrates along the digitisation journey. This is especially relevant now, with the increasing adoption of AI and cloud-based solutions. A lot of businesses implement first and secure later, but this is what puts operations at risk. Cybersecurity providers, like ESET, do the work of staying on top of the latest threats and trends to take the burden off of generalist IT teams.
This can also be a path to skills training for employees, with some software providers providing cyber awareness training as part of their packages to enterprises. Non-IT staff also need to be trained up on basic cybersecurity hygiene, like using strong passwords and keeping them somewhere safe, as well as how to spot phishing attempts and keep their devices safe.
For African businesses to thrive in the digital economy, they must treat cybersecurity not as a technical afterthought but as a core business imperative, requiring immediate and sustained attention. By combining short-term solutions like outsourced security services with long-term investments in education and training, African organisations can not only protect themselves but also help create the next generation of cybersecurity professionals the continent so desperately needs. The question isn’t whether African businesses can afford to address this crisis immediately, but whether they can survive if they don’t.
*Allan Juma is a cybersecurity engineer at ESET East Africa.
