Africa cannot build a thriving digital market if it remains a passive consumer of foreign technologies, standards, and narratives, Ghana’s Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, Mr. Samuel Nartey George, has said.
Speaking at the opening of the 2025 Data Protection Africa Summit in Accra, themed “Defining Africa’s Digital Future: From Consumerism to Partnership,” Mr. George urged the continent to become creators of digital value, custodians of their data, designers of systems, and full partners in global digital trade.
“The future demands that Africa be a negotiator of its interests and a designer of its systems, not merely a user of technologies developed elsewhere,” he said.
The four-day summit, organised by the Africa Digital Rights Hub (ADRH) in partnership with Ghana’s Data Protection Commission, brought together cybersecurity experts, policymakers, regulators, data controllers, and researchers to explore Africa’s digital trajectory.
Mr. George said Ghana was already making strides in moving beyond passive adoption through a national digital transformation agenda, focusing on modernising regulation, expanding digital infrastructure, scaling e-government services, strengthening data protection, and supporting innovation and SMEs.
He emphasised that data protection is foundational, not a barrier to innovation, noting that no digital economy could thrive without trust.
“Digital trade, fintech expansion, cross-border payments, online commerce, and identity verification all collapse without robust privacy protections,” he said.
Highlighting the opportunities from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and its Protocol on Digital Trade, Mr. George cautioned that these gains would remain elusive unless African countries built their own technology capacities.
To this end, Ghana is working to harmonise and secure national datasets under a forthcoming Data Harmonisation Bill, which aims to govern access and cross-border data flows.
He also called for harmonized data protection laws across Africa, interoperable digital identity systems, stronger cross-border regulatory cooperation, and partnerships between governments, civil society, academia, and the private sector.
“Africa must champion its own research, standards, and policy frameworks rather than inheriting models that do not reflect its realities,” he stressed.
Dr. Arnold Kavaarpuo, Acting Executive Director of Ghana’s Data Protection Commission, said in an interview that data protection is central to Ghana’s digital transformation, impacting health, finance, education, public services, and emerging technologies.
He announced a strict enforcement exercise starting January 2026, following a national Enforcement Notice issued in November, directing non-compliant organisations to regularise their status.
Dr. Kavaarpuo said the Commission would apply firm, fair, and consistent sanctions against violations of the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843), marking a “new chapter in safeguarding citizens’ rights and protecting the integrity of Ghana’s digital ecosystem.”
The Commission is also reviewing the Data Protection Act to address AI, big data, cross-border data flows, digital identity, and other emerging technologies, reaffirming support for the Minister’s ambition to position Ghana as Africa’s AI hub.
Prof. Justice S.K. Date-Bah, ADRH Board Chair, warned that while technologies processing personal data are advancing rapidly, they also pose significant risks.
“Unauthorized, negligent, or uninformed data processing can harm individuals, communities, corporations, and governments,” he said.
He stressed that for Africa to transition from consumerism to partnership, it must strengthen capacity, harmonise frameworks, scale innovation, and ensure data governance systems reflect African realities, priorities, and values.
