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The research, conducted by cybersecurity leader, Fortinet, also unearthed unexpected regional dynamics. Kenya and Egypt emerged as frontrunners in AI adoption, while South Africa – traditionally viewed as the continental technology leader – showed more measured adoption rates.

Key findings of the survey:

• Eighty-five percent of the surveyed companies have already invested in or plan to invest in AI within three to five years

• The key challenges of implementing AI were cited as integration with existing systems( 60 %), staff training( 58 %) and data privacy concerns( 52 %)

• Eighty percent of respondents consider AI’ s potential to enhance cybersecurity a major factor in investment decisions

• Top uses of AI in cybersecurity are cited as data leakage protection( 64 %), risk management( 64 %) and threat detection and prevention( 63 %)

• Eighty-two percent view AI as essential for operational efficiency

• Seventy-eight percent consider AI crucial to their digital strategy

Cybersecurity hailed a key area for AI investment over-year increase in cyberattacks globally. Moreover, it’ s well known that cybercriminals are increasingly leveraging AI to create more sophisticated and scalable attacks.

It is therefore perhaps surprising that less than two in 10 organisations – a mere 16 % of businesses surveyed by Fortinet across five key African markets – reported their AI adoption for cybersecurity purposes to be at an advanced stage.

That said, the research showed that business leaders do believe that AI will enable them to strengthen their security defences, with over 80 % considering AI’ s potential to enhance cybersecurity a major factor in their investment decisions.

The top three priority areas for integrating AI into cybersecurity strategies were cited as data leakage and protection( 64 %), enhancing risk management( 64 %) and threat detection and prevention( 34 %).

Key benefits that businesses said they hoped to gain from implementing more advanced cybersecurity technology included real-time threat detection( 65 %) followed by improved data analysis and anomaly detection( 61 %).

South Africa’ s shifting position in the AI landscape

The survey also highlighted interesting findings regarding the maturity of South Africa’ s AI adoption rates. When assessing the level of adoption of AI in cybersecurity across the continent, of those surveyed, South Africa was only in fourth position( 13 %) in terms of having advanced adoption, with Egypt leading the way at 24 % of businesses at an advanced stage, followed by Kenya at 17 % and Algeria at 15 %.

Furthermore, South African respondents demonstrated a more conservative approach to overall AI adoption compared to their continental peers. Only 72 % of South African respondents considered AI crucial to their digital strategy – below the survey average – with both Kenya and Egypt showing stronger conviction, at 85 % and 82 % respectively.

This pattern extends to future investment plans. When businesses were asked about their plans for AI technology investments over the next three to five years, Kenya led the pack, with 90 % of businesses committed to AI investment, followed closely by Egypt at 89 %. South Africa trailed at 83 %, suggesting a more cautious approach to the technology. �

In Interpol’ s 2024 African Cyberthreat Assessment Report, Africa was cited as the region facing the highest year-

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