First data protection summit in Africa calls for harmonisation of laws

Mauritius hosted the inaugural Data Protection Africa Summit from 19-23 November 2018. The topics covered at the summit included the data policy gaps in Africa, the application of artificial intelligence on the continent, as well the implementation of digital IDs on the continent. The issue of data localisation, where some argue for data to remain within countries to support local data economies, was widely discussed. On the other hand, others called for the open flow of data within the continent to support Africa’s single market economy.