Policymakers Urged To Boost Data Security Amid Digitalisation Push

Digitisation of public services offers African governments an opportunity to enhance service delivery, promote good governance, and foster inclusion for underserved communities, an expert panel focused on digital transformation in the public sector emphasised at GITEX Africa in Morocco.

But experts underlined the critical need for robust data protection and privacy safeguards to secure the continent amid the push to digitise public services.

According to a new report by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, there was a 14 spike in spyware attack detections on businesses in the African region from 2023 to 2024. Spyware refers to malicious software that is covertly installed on a user's device to monitor their actions and harvest their personal data.

According to a 2023 Lexology report, 36 of 54 African nations have enacted data protection laws, with frameworks like South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act POPIA and Kenya's Data Protection Act aligning with global standards like GDPR. While welcoming the enactment of stronger data protection laws, Emmanuel Manasseh, the Africa regional director of the International Telecommunications Union ITU, argued that effective data protection goes far beyond having the right policies and regulations in place.

"It's about building the right infrastructure, starting with more data centres domiciled in Africa," he said. He noted that, presently, only 2 of the data produced on the continent is stored domestically while 98 is stored abroad, leading to potential security risks.