“Africa’s Cybersecurity Market To Hit $1.44bn By 2031’

Africa’s cybersecurity market is projected to grow from about $0.68 billion in 2025 to $1.44 billion by 2031, reflecting rising demand for the protection of critical infrastructure amid rapid digitalisation across key sectors, Schneider Electric has said.

The company noted that the expansion underscores the increasing importance of cybersecurity as a driver of industrial resilience and economic growth across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Country Sales Director, Process Automation and Software, Schneider Electric Anglophone Africa, Elijah Daniel, said the accelerating pace of digital adoption has elevated cybersecurity from a back-office IT function to a critical component of economic infrastructure.

“As digital adoption accelerates across Sub-Saharan Africa, cybersecurity is no longer just a back-office IT function; it has become critical economic infrastructure essential to both industrial continuity and regional economic stability,” he said.

Schneider Electric identified oil and gas, mining, and power generation as among the most vulnerable sectors, citing their reliance on legacy systems such as Distributed Control Systems (DCS) and Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS), which often lack modern security updates.

The firm warned that these outdated systems are increasingly targeted by ransomware attacks, supply chain breaches, and other advanced cyber threats.

Daniel also highlighted the lack of segmentation between IT and operational technology networks as a major vulnerability, noting that compromised emails, malicious files, or infected external devices could provide entry points into critical operational systems.

The company further attributed heightened risk exposure to operational practices such as “run to failure” maintenance models, which, while extending system usage, often leave infrastructure without essential security updates or support.

It added that weak governance frameworks, including poor access management and limited cybersecurity oversight, continue to increase vulnerabilities across industrial environments.

Schneider Electric stressed the need for organisations to strengthen their cybersecurity posture by adopting higher protection standards, including transitioning from Security Level 2 to Security Level 3 to better withstand complex and coordinated cyberattacks.

The company also underscored the importance of securing process safety systems, warning that inadequate cybersecurity measures could allow attackers to interfere with critical system responses during emergencies.

Across the region, industrial organisations are increasingly integrating cybersecurity into automation and operational technology systems through measures such as network segmentation, continuous monitoring, endpoint protection, and lifecycle security management.

Schneider Electric noted that while Africa remains at an early stage of industrial cybersecurity maturity, this presents an opportunity to embed robust security frameworks into ongoing industrial modernisation efforts.