The reasons, impacts and limitations of cybercrime policies in Anglophone West Africa: a review

The fast and consistent growth of cybercrime and its socio-economic consequence have received scholarly attention both within organisations, governmental bodies and researchers in academic environment. Cybercrime is well known to have widely affected the economic conditions of organisations, political economies and individuals. The main objective of this study was to systematically review and outline the current state of research on the determiners of cybercrime adaptation, consequences of cybercrime and the hindrances of cybercrime policies in Anglophone West Africa. The database search was done between 20th December 2020 and 9th January 2021. The search was done through three electronic databases, including Scopus, Sage and Google Scholar. According to the eligibility criteria, articles were included if they were written in English and addressed the issue of cybercrime in Anglophone West Africa, and either the consequence or reasons for cybercrime adaptation or the hindrances of cybercrime policies. Included articles were critically read and data was extracted for reporting. The total number of articles included in the study amounted to 24. Out of the 24 articles, 13 addressed the issues of cybercrime consequences, 6 tackled the reasons and 6 addressed the hindrances of cybercrime policies and regulations. The study revealed that cybercrime has micro-, mesoand macroeconomic impacts in West Africa. At the micro level, citizens loses both financial resourcesand international travel opportunities. E-businesses at the meso level are victimised both financially and reputationally. At the macro level, countries where cybercrime is prevalence experience a reduction in foreign investment, damage of international reputation and financial problems. The review has also shown that cybercrime perpetrators lose focus in education. The review also revealed that the reason for cybercrime adaptation is associated with economic strains and corruption at the governmental level. Lastly, hindrances of cybercrime policies circulate around corruption, government interference, ineffective implementation of cybercrime laws and inconsistencies in the content of cybercrime policies. Based on the limitations provided in the study, the present author recommends further studies to include articles in different languages. It is also recommended for future potential researchersto study how cybercrime reflects in the lives of perpetrators and their perspectives on the mitigative interventions. The author argues that to further increase the effectiveness of cybercrime mitigation process in Africa, future studies is needed to understand how cybercrime is organised in African societies.