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Zimbabwe is facing a growing wave of cybercrime driven by artificial intelligence, with government warning that fraudsters are increasingly deploying advanced technologies to exploit the country’s expanding digital economy.
Speaking at the 2026 Cyber Fraud and AI Summit, Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services Tatenda Mavetera said the nature of cyber threats has fundamentally shifted as criminals now leverage AI to carry out more sophisticated and large-scale attacks.
“For decades, cyber fraud was a game of human against human, but that era is ending, today fraudsters use generative AI to craft perfect, personalised messages at scale. Ladies and gentlemen, the enemy now has artificial intelligence,” said Mavetera.
Minister Mavetera warned that Zimbabwe is already experiencing the effects of this shift, citing a surge in mobile money scams, phishing attacks and social engineering schemes targeting individuals and institutions.
According to government estimates, millions of dollars are lost annually to cyber fraud, with mobile money scams alone exceeding US$30 million each year.
Phishing and related attacks have risen by more than 40 percent in recent years, posing a growing threat to financial systems and public trust.
“The cost of cyber fraud is not just financial. It is the erosion of trust in digital systems. And without trust, there is no digital transformation,” Mavetera said.
Mavetera said Zimbabwe’s increasing reliance on digital platforms ranging from banking and mobile money services to e-government systems has expanded the country’s vulnerability to cyberattacks.
She also noted that while artificial intelligence is being used by criminals, it also presents the country’s strongest defence.
“AI systems can detect fraud in milliseconds, predict and prevent attacks before they materialise, and continuously learn and adapt to evolving threats. “This is the essence of AI versus AI a technological arms race,” said Mavetera.
In response, government is rolling out a multi-pronged cybersecurity strategy aimed at strengthening national resilience against AI-driven threats.
Minister Mavetera went on to highlight measures in the finalisation of the National Cybersecurity Strategy, which are awaiting Cabinet approval and is expected to guide the country’s overall response to cyber threats.
She also said that the ministry is nearing completion of a National Security Operations Centre, currently at 85 percent, which will act as a central hub for real-time threat detection and response using advanced technologies.
Additionally, authorities are working to establish a National Computer Incident Response Team to coordinate responses to cyber incidents across sectors.
Cybercrime have been on the rise all around the word with Zimbabwe not being left behind which has seen the government trying to come up with measures to try and protect the government from the attacks.
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