Cameroon’s push towards a digital economy by 2035 is gathering momentum, but authorities warn that the rapid growth of fintech platforms is exposing the country to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
According to Ebot Ebot Enaw, director-general of the National Agency for Information and Communication Technologies (ANTIC), securing interconnected digital financial platforms is critical to maintaining trust, financial stability and economic sovereignty.
Speaking this week in Mbankomo, on the outskirts of Yaoundé, during the Digitize Cameroon Forum, Enaw said fintech services have become key drivers of financial inclusion and economic growth.
“A study conducted in 2024 indicates that digital payment services generated over 1,022 CFA francs in revenue in 2024, representing 3.16% of GDP, with more than 31.5 million active mobile subscriptions,” he said.
However, Enaw warned that the technologies driving innovation are also creating new vulnerabilities.
ANTIC noted that fintech operators operate in a highly interconnected environment, where weaknesses in one platform can compromise transactions across the wider ecosystem.
This interdependence increases the risk of cascading disruptions that could undermine public confidence in digital financial services.
The major threats include online fraud and phishing attacks increasingly enabled by artificial intelligence, money laundering and illicit financial flows, breaches of financial and personal data, and service disruptions caused by compromised platforms.
According to ANTIC, these risks could develop into systemic threats if security weaknesses are not adequately addressed.
To strengthen the sector’s resilience, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications adopted a decision in April 2025 establishing conditions for public digital platforms seeking access to the national electronic communications aggregation platform.
The framework promotes interoperability and interconnection, while making access conditional on compliance with security requirements verified through ANTIC-led audits.
Under the initiative, ANTIC has conducted 108 security audits of fintech companies, identifying 3,914 vulnerabilities and issuing recommendations to address them.
The most common weaknesses include poorly implemented security policies, a shortage of cybersecurity expertise, inadequate logical access controls, weak data protection mechanisms and insufficient business continuity plans.
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