AfCFTA Must Prepare for Data Security, Say Experts

The need for data security in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has been stressed by experts in cybersecurity.

This was one of the resolutions at the second (Virtual) Africa Data Security Conclave (“the Conference”) which held recently with over 200 attendees from various African countries and the rest of the world.

One of the experts, Abiola Sanni (SAN), Professor of Law at the University of Lagos and Chairman, Board of Directors of Taxaide Technologies Limited (Taxtech), stated that “it is no gainsaid that the world’s largest economic free trade area that the AfCFTA has created needs to be fully conscious of the data security issues that awaits it, especially in the aspects of its Trade in Intangible Services and the attendant consumption of personal data in the zillions of bytes. Along with the challenges are also the opportunities for Governments, Citizens, Businesses and Practitioners alike; all of which we seek to fully explore in this year’s Conference.”

This year’s conference was themed: Data Security Considerations for a Continental Free Trade Area: The Challenges and Prospects. The Conference was structured along four distinct lines of intervention: Emergence and Implementation of a Uniform Framework for Personal Data Security in Africa: Recommendations from the First Africa Data Protection Conclave; The Enforcement of Data Protection Measure in AfCFTA member states – Compliance levels, issues arising and enforcement strategies; Africa Continental Free Trade Area and cross-border Personal Data transfer: Impacts, Implementation and Challenges; and Data Protection and Cyber Security in the Growing Digital Economy across Africa.

The event featured over 20 speakers comprising policymakers, captains of industry, legal luminaries and other stakeholders from Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and the rest of Africa with professional backgrounds in law, cybersecurity, and data protection, some of which include, Patricia Adusei-Poku, President of the Network of African Data Protection Authorities (NADPA); Aissatou Sylla, Senior Associate, Hogan Lovells, France; Alice Namuli Blazevic, Associate Partner at Katende, Ssempebwa & Company, Uganda; Esther Lugoe Mengi, Lead Cybersecurity Specialist Serensic Ltd, Tanzania; Olufemi Daniel, Head of Regulations Monitoring and Compliance at the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigeria; Group Executive Director, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Policy Network Ghana, among others.

The conference was aimed at providing thought-provoking and enlightening conversations that will enable us to achieve, foster and embrace more strategic approaches towards the promotion of Data Security in Africa for the promotion of a Continental Free Trade Area.

The second Africa Data Protection has as its headline sponsors, Taxaide Technologies Limited (Taxtech), Anaje Olumide Oke and Akinkugbe (AO2LAW), 21Search, Taxaide Professional Services Limited, NDP Academy, TGL and ably supported by a host of brands and organisations.