By 
The African data protection community gathered recently in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso under the auspices of the NADPA/RAPDP (Network of African Data Protection Authorities) to articulate on strengthening the continent’s data protection practice through more robust legislation and cooperation.
RELATED: Banks, telcos among 110 companies under investigation by NDPB for data breaches
The Nigerian delegation to the Conference and General Assembly of the NADPA 2023 was led by the National Commissioner/CEO, Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB), Dr. Vincent Olatunji who leveraged the gathering to share Nigeria’s data protection milestones and challenges.
Nigeria has made remarkable progress both in terms of its legislative journey to creating a Data Protection Law and enforcement of privacy rights through regulatory interventions and privacy awareness to instill a national culture of data protection, Olatunji told stakeholders at the Ouagadougou meeting.
Since its established early last year, Nigeria’s privacy ombudsman has helped to stir growth in Nigeria’s nascent data protection industry, deepen strategic awareness across sectors, make corporate organisations more accountable to their privacy obligations and fostered more capacity building trainings.
The NADPA/RAPDP General Assembly deliberated on strategies for deepening data privacy and protection in Africa, the need for stronger regional cooperation, more robust capacity building initiatives and the sustainability of the intergovernmental body amongst others.
Established in 2016, the NADPA is a platform for knowledge sharing, collaboration and exploring possible solutions to the challenges of data protection and supervisory authorities in Africa.
The network brings together privacy and data protection authorities from African countries to facilitate cooperation and the sharing of experience, support states in preparing legislation on privacy and data protection and establishing data protection agencies (DPAs), and promote the adoption and implementation of relevant African legal instruments.
As of October 2022, NADPA membership includes DPAs from Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, and Uganda. The membership has steadily increased.
The network is also cooperating with African and international bodies and associations (e.g. the Global Privacy Assembly and the Global Privacy Enforcement Network). In March 2022, the network signed a memorandum of understanding with the Smart Africa Alliance to work together on issues such as supporting the enforcement of data protection regulations, encouraging the creation of a harmonised framework for data protection policies and regulations across Africa, and supporting countries in preparing or updating legislation and establishing DPAs.
A major highlight of the event was the formal visit by a delegation of the Network to the Head of State and President of the Transition of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traoré led by Patricia Poku, Executive Director of the National Data Protection Commission of Ghana and President of NADPA/RAPDP.
