South Africa’s Corporate Sector Urged to Wake Up to the Quantum Computing Threat
South African businesses are dangerously underprepared when it comes to understanding quantum computing — a technology that experts warn could either revolutionise industries or expose them to catastrophic cybersecurity risks. Despite the growing buzz around artificial intelligence, quantum computing is quietly advancing toward mainstream relevance, and many local companies are still not paying close enough attention.
Phumzile Madonsela, director at the African Quantum Consortium (AQC), made this warning in a recent interview, stressing that while AI continues to dominate boardroom conversations, quantum computing is next in line — and its potential societal impact could be even more disruptive.
“We’ve seen that there are gaps with people not understanding this technology, especially on the corporate side of things,” Madonsela said. “Given the rise of AI, there has also been a rise in cyberthreats that has been keeping risk managers awake at night.”
She went further to highlight a looming danger that few executives are currently planning for. “When quantum computing is commercialised, it will break current encryption standards,” she warned. “So how do we protect organisations from that? It begins with senior leaders understanding the technology and knowing what it actually means for their organisations.”
Quantum Computing Poses a Growing Cybersecurity Risk to South African Enterprises
The concept of “Q-Day” — the point at which quantum computers become powerful enough to crack today’s encryption protocols — is no longer considered a far-off science fiction scenario. Estimates vary, but IBM Cybersecurity Services executive Antti Ropponen has previously placed Q-Day in the early to mid-2030s, a timeline that many in the cybersecurity space consider optimistic.
Google, one of the most aggressive investors in quantum technology, recently announced it is actively working to secure its entire ecosystem against quantum-driven cyberattacks by 2029. The tech giant’s vice president of security engineering, Heather Adkins, issued a stark warning: “Quantum computers will pose a significant threat to current cryptographic standards, specifically to encryption and digital signatures.”
Adkins added that “store-now-decrypt-later” attacks are already a present-day concern, where bad actors harvest encrypted data today with the intention of decrypting it once quantum computers become capable enough. This makes the threat not just a future problem but an immediate one that organisations must begin addressing now.
Madonsela pointed out that South Africa’s financial sector is particularly exposed to these risks. She used Sanlam’s recent appointment of Theo Mabaso to the newly created role of chief AI officer as a benchmark for the kind of forward-thinking leadership corporate South Africa needs to adopt for quantum computing as well.
“Sanlam’s decision shows that they want a person dedicated to understanding how their strategy and business model will be affected by artificial intelligence,” she explained. She argued that companies should consider similar dedicated quantum expertise at executive level, rather than relying solely on external consultants. Without executive buy-in, meaningful quantum adoption simply will not happen.
The AQC is also lobbying the African Union to appoint a dedicated quantum computing official within its specialised technical committees. Currently, South Africa stands as the only country in the AU with a formal quantum development road map, driven by the Department of Science, Technology & Innovation in collaboration with organisations like the AQC and the South African Quantum Technology Initiative.
Beyond cybersecurity, Madonsela highlighted that quantum computing offers enormous opportunities across multiple industries. Logistics, drug discovery, and farming simulations all stand to benefit from quantum’s ability to solve complex optimisation problems. However, it is the financial services sector that she believes will gain the most.
“In financial services, portfolio optimisation is one use case that is very clear, so investment banks should already be taking an interest in that,” she said. Once companies identify the use cases most relevant to their operations, she expects more specialised quantum roles to start emerging within corporate structures.
The message from South Africa’s quantum community is clear: waiting until quantum computing becomes mainstream before preparing is not a viable strategy. The time for businesses, government, and financial institutions to engage with this technology — both its threats and opportunities — is right now, not years down the line when the damage may already be done.