General News
ALDAPCON Calls for Data Protection Legislation
The Association of Licensed Data Protection Organisations of Nigeria (ALDAPCON) has advocated the need for the principal data protection legislation law to be put in place as the country pursues its digital transformation agenda.
R-L: Chairman of the Association, Mr. Ivan Anya and the Secretary, Mr. Abdullaziz Ari, during a press conference in Abuja, recently
Mr. Ivan Anya, Chairman of the Association, in a press conference, said the Data Protection bill when passed into law will address the data privacy and confidentiality of Nigerians, enable secure dataflow, economic development, and improve national security, job creation and better global positioning.
He said this will also enable data processors and data controllers to have significant clarification of duties and responsibility for the protection of rights of data subjects (citizens).
“From inception of our work in the industry we actually face a whole lot of this level of resistance, some of them are still there, some are still waiting for sectoral regulators to advise them as to what direction they should take, not understanding by themselves why they should ensure compliance. We also have the issue of technicality that is prevalent within the ecosystem; instances where you have businesses hosting Nigerians’ data outside of the country. You need to ensure that such hosts of Nigerians data are hosted in full compliance with the Nigerian data protection regulation.
“The big issue is the aspect of the law. We are hopeful that as soon as the data protection bill is passed, it will address a whole lot of the technical and procedural issues we face now in terms of compliance.
“The bill is expected to contribute to the legal foundations of the digital economy of Nigeria and its participation in the regional and global economies through the beneficial, trusted use of personal data to help mitigate issues on data leakage, and ensure confidentiality and privacy of data.”
Speaking on the objectives of the association, Mr. Anya said Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCOs) under the umbrella body ALDAPCON as the privacy overseers in the country, focuses on driving data compliance in the industry which include to provide credible and authoritative data protection advisory to government, private and public organisations in Nigeria
“So we are currently running our second year since inception and we have been working with the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) in championing what should help guide data protection practice in Nigeria.
“The data protection compliance model is the only one of its type globally and no other country currently practices what we do. It is called the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement where the supervising authority in this case, the NDPB has delegated some of its functions to the DPCOS to go to business organisations and assist them achieve compliance, this is what exactly we do,”
He said the association is helping create awareness on the importance of data protection and cyber security as well as the provision of data protection regulation in Nigeria.
“[This is] in addition to being the body of knowledge for data subjects on the Nigerian data protection legislation and its execution; as well as working with stakeholders to influence and assess the impact of data protection in Nigeria.”
He added that ALDAPCON has also provided certification training in data protection as well as the implementation and filling of gaps that may arise in the course of an audit assessment of how an organisation is compliant to the data protection regulations or the laws.
Assessment in areas of default and ensuring that at every point in time businesses are in full compliant with the requirements of the regulations
He noted that the data privacy sector has recorded significant achievements. Between 2020 and 2021, compliance recorded 68% improvement. “We are hopeful that by the time the 2022 report comes out during the data privacy week of 2023; we’ll see exactly what has happened or what level of progress has been achieved.”
He added that the need assessment audit report published early this year for 2021 shows that there has been a significant improvement in terms of compliance within the fintech sector which has been quite remarkable.
The Secretary of the Association, Mr. Abdullaziz Ari disclosed that the Association is coming up with standards to guide compliance in the industry, developing capacity within the ecosystem and most importantly, to create awareness on how to assist the ecosystem comply with the requirements of the regulation.
“Well, for now we try to focus mostly on the public and private sectors. The memos will help bridge the gap in the public sector as the private sector has been more responsive in terms of compliance” Ari added
Nigeria’s Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) market is on a fast-growing trajectory and is predicted to be valued $2.61 billion by 2030, up 83% from $1.42 billion in 2024, owing primarily to the rapid emergence of fintechs in the country.
This observation was stated in EnterpriseNGR’s State of Enterprise 2025 report, which focuses on how fintechs are reshaping Nigeria’s business landscape through digital innovations, accessible credit systems, and mobile-first financial tools.
As a credit system, BNPL allows users to stagger payments for products and services, making it a key development driver in Nigeria’s developing digital economy.
From 2021 to 2024, the BNPL experienced a compounded annual growth rate of 23.1%. Fintechs have contributed to the rapid growth by providing a range of flexible loan alternatives for e-commerce, retail, and services, bridging financial gaps for millions of disadvantaged Nigerians.
The report highlights how fintechs have contributed to Nigeria’s flexibility and resiliency by simplifying digital payments, automating invoicing and payroll systems, and democratising credit through platforms such as Renmoney and FairMoney.
The report also shows a significant rise in remittance inflows into Nigeria following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s 2024 policy adjustments.
According to the report, by 2024, Nigeria boasted over 400 licensed digital lenders who extend collateral-free credit to those commonly excluded by banks.
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) strengthened bilateral relations with the Netherlands’ government through an agreement targeted at improving migration governance and border security.
This partnership was confirmed during a meeting at the NIS headquarters in Abuja, which was attended by a Dutch team led by Jurgen Bartelink, Chargé D’Affaires of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Nigeria.
The meeting focused on increasing bilateral migration cooperation and came after the comptroller general of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, paid a working visit to the Netherlands.
Under the agreement, the Dutch government pledged to continue supporting technology-driven solutions targeted at boosting Nigeria’s border control systems and improving migration management.
During the Netherlands Embassy diplomats handed over essential operational tools, such as Edison Software licence keys and the Passport Examination Programme Manual App.
According to NIS spokeswoman ACI Akinsola Akinlabi, “The partnership focuses on enhancing bilateral collaboration on migration management and reviewing ongoing capacity-building efforts.”
Bartelink, Chargé d’Affaires of the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria, underlined the Netherlands’ commitment to helping Nigeria’s continuing border security and migration reforms.
Also speaking, Rob Bokhoven, head of international affairs, repatriation, and deportation services at the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security, emphasised the country’s strong bilateral relations and announced plans to share a mobile border software solution with the NIS.
Receiving the equipment, Nandap said the delivery of the gadgets would boost West African country’s border security, significantly improve the service’s document verification border management capabilities and support the implementation of Nigeria’s National Migration Policy.
“The engagement will further reinforce the strategic partnership between Nigeria and the Netherlands advancing shared goals in migration governance, border security and international cooperation,” she added.
Peter Enogb, principal country economist, African Development Bank (AfDB), says the rise in global uncertainty, emanating from increases in global trade tariffs, has slowed Nigeria’s projected growth to 3.2% in 2025.
“Without this level of heightened uncertainty, our projections would probably have been somewhat higher. We’ve reduced our projections for Nigeria. We initially were projecting 3.5% – 3.6% growth in 2025.
“But given the current situation, our models are showing that we’re taking a more cautious approach. So that’s why we produced this and, of course, the main driver is uncertainty in the global economy,” Enogb said.
He said this at the launch of the 2025 Nigeria Country Focus Report (CFR) on Thursday.
AFDB projected that real GDP growth would hit 3.1% in 2026. Following the 2024 consumer price index (CPI) rebasing, with lower weights for food items, the inflation rate is expected to reduce over the medium term to 24.7% in 2025 and 17.3% in 2026.
As imports start to rise over the medium term, the current account is projected to decline to 3.9% of GDP in 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Nigeria’s headline inflation slowed for the second consecutive month to 22.97% in May. This is down from 24.48% at the start of the year
This is contrary to the World Bank projection that Nigeria’s economy would record steady growth of 3.6% despite the shift in the global trade dynamics.
Joseph Ogebe, head of research and development at Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), also said that global uncertainty had been very high in recent times, resulting from the Trump 2.0 effect.
“And also with the recent war between Israel and the international community, we’ve seen what’s happening to oil prices. Even with the call-off of the war, we’ve seen the effect on oil prices too, which has implications on the fiscal side. So it has implications for the general economy,” he said.
The head of research at NESG said that rather than focusing on just growth, what should be looked at is a strategy called growth with depth.
“Growth with depth means that your growth must be diversified, export-led, productive, and technologically driven,” he said.
Ogebe said that if the Government works towards adopting a strategy of growth with depth, there is a tendency for the government to move towards its goal of achieving a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
The report revealed that the country’s recent policy moves, including fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate unification, and tax reforms, reflect a commitment to long-term transformation.
However, it also pointed out that at about 13%, Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio is among the lowest in West Africa, noting that fiscal reforms are urgent.
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