Janet MacKenzie, Anne-Marie Allgrove, Kellie Blyth, Elisabeth Dehareng, Ghada El Ehwany, Brian Hengesbaugh, Theo Ling, Paolo Sbuttoni, and Carlos Vela-Trevino of Baker McKenzie write:
The pandemic drove home the high value of personal data to the global economy, while also highlighting its vulnerability to abuse and attack. In response, governments around the world, including those in Africa, have been reviewing their data privacy and protection laws and regulations. The protection of data in Africa is broadly covered by the Convention of the African Union on Cybersecurity and Personal Data (2014) which has been ratified by only a small number of the 55 African Union members.
To highlight data security and privacy laws and developments that are already in place, or in progress, in Africa, our new Africa Data Security and Privacy Guide outlines information on country-specific data privacy and security laws in 11 countries in Africa – Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Togo, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
The guide covers legal developments around data privacy and security at a domestic level, itemizing the various country-specific laws, both in place and in progress, in each of these 11 countries. It provides a comparative overview of the similarities and differences of the laws, including how the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations have impacted the development of data privacy law in each jurisdiction. The guide also provides commentary from each of the country specialists on the importance of implementing laws around data privacy and security protection across the continent.
Download the firm’s free guide at https://www.bakermckenzie.com/-/media/files/insight/guides/2022/africa-data-security-and-privacy-guide.pdf (78 pp, pdf)