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Inside Africa’s increasingly lucrative surveillance market

In depth
This article is part of the dossier: Cyber surveillance: a new market, with old clients
Sponsored by IDEMIA

By Mathieu Olivier
Posted on Monday, 3 February 2020 10:30, updated on Wednesday, 21 July 2021 22:30

The cybersecurity market was worth $118.78bn in 2018. By 2024, this figure is expected to hit $267.73bn. © Rafael Ricoy for GJA

Dozens of journalists, human rights activists and business leaders were tapped via Israeli software by Moroccan, Saudi, Togolese and Rwandan intelligence services. The revelations of the investigation by a consortium of 17 international media exploded on Sunday 18 July. The company NSO, which designed the Pegasus spyware and distributes it, denied the allegations that which it described as "false".

Update 20 July 2021

The Moroccan authorities, for their part, have referred to the revelations as ‘unfounded allegations’, and the French government is concerned about ‘extremely shocking facts and, if true, extremely serious’.

This ‘Pegasusgate’ echoes an investigation we conducted last year in 2020: ‘Cyber surveillance: a new market, with old clients?’ In light of the new revelations made by the NSO/Pegasus scandal, we are republishing this series of articles. 

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