For the last two decades data protection regulatory models in the African continent were highly inspired by foreign ones – mostly by the European Union’s models. Recently, regulatory diversions can be spotted – reaching from strict(er) regulation on data sovereignty and data localisation to hybrid data protection and data governance approaches. Against this background, this volume presents the proceedings of the conference on "African Data Protection Laws: Regulation, Policy, and Practice" held in Accra, Ghana in 2022. The contributions undertake deep dives into the data protection and data governance development on the African continent – providing insights by distinguished scholars and experts in the field and tackling current trends, laws, regulations, and policies. The contributions narrate the unique African journey and lay the ground for interdisciplinary informed policy decisions, guide stakeholders, and also provoke future research towards a potential Pan-African data (protection) governance framework in Africa.

For the last two decades data protection regulatory models in the African continent were highly inspired by foreign ones – mostly by the European Union’s models. Recently, regulatory diversions can be spotted – reaching from strict(er) regulation on data sovereignty and data localisation to hybrid data protection and data governance approaches. Against this background, this volume presents the proceedings of the conference on "African Data Protection Laws: Regulation, Policy, and Practice" held in Accra, Ghana in 2022. The contributions undertake deep dives into the data protection and data governance development on the African continent – providing insights by distinguished scholars and experts in the field and tackling current trends, laws, regulations, and policies. The contributions narrate the unique African journey and lay the ground for interdisciplinary informed policy decisions, guide stakeholders, and also provoke future research towards a potential Pan-African data (protection) governance framework in Africa.