African Union's data policy framework and data protection in Africa

Abstract

The African Union (AU) has in recent years launched a number of initiatives with the goal of enabling member states to benefit from the emerging digital economy. One such initiative is the AU Data Policy Framework endorsed by the Executive Council in February 2022. This paper considers what value the Data Policy Framework adds to the protection of data privacy in Africa. It finds that the Data Policy Framework offers little that would further data protection systems at the continental, subcontinental and national levels. With far more progressive international best practices already available, member states are likely to ignore the Policy as they ignored preceding standards like the Malabo Convention.