The National Commissioner/CEO of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, Dr Vincent Olatunji, served as a panelist at GITEX Nigeria 2025, held at the Abuja Continental Hotel. The event, which featured the Honourable Minister for Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr ’Bosun Tijani, was organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency, under the leadership of its Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi.
Speaking as a panelist on the topic, “Advancing Continental Data Infrastructure and Protecting African Data Sovereignty,” Dr Olatunji emphasised that aligning regulatory frameworks across Africa will produce an Africa-wide system that ensures data residency and protecting privacy. He emphasised the importance of the African Union supporting the ongoing work of the Network of African Data Protection Authorities (NADPA-RAPDP) to ensure that the efforts of Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) towards harmonisation, achieve the desired results.
Dr Olatunji stressed the need to assess Africa’s current position and develop regulations addressing its unique contexts. He spoke on the design and deployment of a resilient, pan-African data infrastructure that enables secure, sovereign, and governance of data use, while fostering innovation. He also urged developers to adopt Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) and embed privacy by design into their solutions.
The event had key dignitaries in attendance including Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Chairman, Senate Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity, Senator Shuaibu Afolabi Salisu; his House of Representatives counterpart, Hon Adedeji Stanley; Secretary of State for Digital Economy, Cape Verde, HE Pedro Lopez; CEO of MTN, Mr Karl Toriola; Executive Vice-President, Dubai World Trade Center, Ms Trixie LohMirmand; Senior Partner at TLcom Capital LLP, Dr Omobola Johnson; among others.
