Cross-Border Data Flows in Africa: Examining Policy Approaches and Pathways to Regulatory Interoperability

Cross-border data flows are critical to Africa’s digital economy, enabling trade, innovation, and access to continental and global markets. As the drive towards data-driven technologies among businesses and governments grows, the ability to transfer personal data across borders efficiently and securely has become a key policy concern on the continent, a position echoed by the African Union (AU) and its Member States. This Issue Brief provides an overview of the current policy landscape for inter-African cross-border data flows, and proposes possible paths toward regulatory cooperation. 

The Issue Brief begins by highlighting ongoing sub-regional efforts to shape frameworks for cross-border data flows, including through the work by the African Union, the Economic Community of East African States (ECOWAS), the East Africa Community (EAC), and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). These efforts show early alignment toward shared standards, but also underline the diversity of legal frameworks and enforcement capacity across jurisdictions.

The Brief introduces a taxonomy of cross-border data regimes in Africa, identifying two common approaches: The first encompasses countries with no cross-border data flows provisions, either because such provisions are omitted from the law or countries lack comprehensive data protection laws in entirety; and the second approach includes countries with restrictions for transferring personal data to other African countries

To operationalize inter-African cross-border data flows, legal frameworks on the continent increasingly reference data transfer tools. The Issue Brief explores the use and implementation of mechanisms such as adequacy decisions, certification mechanisms, standard contractual clauses (SCCs), and binding corporate rules (BCRs) and derogations, currently in use across Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, and Ivory Coast. This comparative analysis highlights that the practical implementation of transfer tools remains uneven across the continent, and many countries lack clear guidance or infrastructure to support their use. 

In the final section of the Issue Brief, we outline policy considerations and opportunities for convergence on cross-border data flows across the continent, encouraging African countries to work toward interoperable data transfer frameworks that reflect shared values.