The Smart Africa Alliance (SA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Network of African Data Protection Authorities (NADPA) to provide institutional support and enhance the enforcement capacities of African National Authorities.
To this end, signing the MoU has opened a new chapter for a genuine pan-African dialogue and cooperation that will see a harmonised framework for data protection policies and regulation in Africa.
Executive Director of Ghana’s Data Protection Commission and President of the Network of African Data Protection Authorities, Madam Patricia Adusei Poku, said the MoU will provide institutional support and enhance the enforcement capacities of African National Authorities.
Digital identity systems are at the heart of Africa’s digital transformation agenda. They are the keystone of all public and private strategies intended to offer goods and services to users. The construction of digital identity requires the processing of users’ personal data and their sharing, sometimes beyond national borders. Thus, it requires the establishment of rules and trust mechanisms for the security and protection of this data.
Ms. Poku intimated that organisations had reached a new milestone and are now ready to enter into such a partnership that will not only achieve pledged commitments from a data governance and data protection legal harmonisation point of view, but also for the development of regional training and certification for African data protection professionals in order to address skills deficits in the field.
Initial discussions between Smart Africa and NADPA/RAPDP began on November 26, 2021 in Benguerir, Morocco, on the need to join forces as a region to enforce harmonisation of the data protection laws as a matter of regional interest. After successful deliberations, both parties convened in Dakar, Senegal, to append their signatures to an MoU – opening a new page of the pan-African roadmap to achieve data protection goals.
The MoU took effect on March 10th, 2022 – laying the ground for genuine pan-African dialogue and cooperation. Specifically, the NADPA/RAPDP and SA are coming together to support national data strategies and enforcement of data protection regulations in order to create a harmonised framework for data protection policies and regulation in Africa.
In addition, the collaboration will support African states in preparing or updating legislation on the protection of privacy and personal data, and in establishing data protection authorities as well as develop and conduct joint capacity building modules for African Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) through Smart Africa Digital Academy (SADA) whenever possible.
The partnership will develop in-place initiatives for enhanced legal collaboration between African Data Protection Authorities to support digitalisation of the continent.
Commenting on the MOU’s strategic signing, the CEO of Smart Africa, Lacina Koné, registered her excitement at working together with NADPA/RAPDP to enlarge capacities for data protection policies and intensify the pan-African collaboration.
She further noted that the MoU will help facilitate and accelerate harmonisation and legal collaboration between member-states – a move that is in line with the Malabo Convention as well as the new Continental Data Policy Framework of the African Union Commission.
Awa Ndiaye, President of the CDP-Senegal, emphasised the MoU represents a strategic framework for design and sharing between key players in the protection of personal data. He added that it is in line with initiatives to make Africa a safe and enabling space for digital transformation.
