NADPA Side Event: Securing Safe and Trustworthy Cross-Border Data Flows

FPF Side Event at NADPA 2025 May 8, 2025 @ 9:00am - 11:30am WAT
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Overview

side event nadpa 2025 5.8.25 (4)

Join the Future of Privacy Forum at an official side event of the 2025 Convening of the Network of African Data Protection Authorities (NADPA), which will cover Securing Safe and Trustworthy Cross-Border Data Flows. The side event will take place on May 8, 2025 from 9:00 – 11:30am WAT at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja.

Cross-border data flows are essential for Africa’s digital transformation, driving trade, innovation and regional integration. However, achieving secure and trusted data flows requires balancing local contexts with global standards. This event will focus on practical solutions to foster trusted data flows across Africa through panel sessions and hands-on presentations featuring policymakers, regulators, industry stakeholders and civil society.

This event will be held in live, in-person-only format. To register, please click here.

Speakers:

  • Ridwan Oloyede, AI Governance & Tech Policy Lead, Tech Hive Advisory
  • Toulu Akerele, Global Data Protection Officer, ISMS Manager,Paystack;
  • Ada Isamade, Legal Officer, NDPC
  • Ikechukwu Ibeawuchi, Lead, Government Affairs, Cisco

Agenda

May 8, 2025

Time

Event

Location

Speakers

8:00 am –
8:30 am GMT

Welcome Coffee & Registration

8:30 am –
8:35 am GMT

Welcome Remarks & Introduction
  • Mercy King’ori, Policy Manager for Africa, FPF

8:35 am –
9:00 am GMT

Presentation: Cross-border data flows: Local and Regional Contexts

Q&A

This session will explore the state of cross-border data flows within Africa, addressing regional initiatives, policy challenges, and opportunities for harmonizing governance approaches.

 

 
  • Mercy King’ori, Policy Manager for Africa, FPF

9:00 am –
10:00 am GMT

Panel Session – Transfer Mechanisms: Regional and International Best Practices and Use Cases

This session will examine tools and frameworks enabling secure, compliant data transfers, showcasing regional and global best practices and innovative use cases.
  • Ridwan Oloyede, AI Governance & Tech Policy Lead, Tech Hive Advisory
  • Toulu Akerele, Global Data Protection Officer, ISMS Manager, Paystack;
  • Ada Isamade, Legal Officer, NDPC
  • Ikechukwu Ibeawuchi, Lead, Government Affairs, Cisco

10:00 am –
10:30 am GMT

Concluding Remarks, Next Steps & Networking

Speakers

Toulu Akerele

Global Data Protection Officer, ISMS Manager, Paystack

Toulu is a multilingual data privacy professional, cybersecurity strategist, and security consultant who has worked in Paris, London, Tel Aviv and Lagos, across diverse cultures, languages and environments, including government agencies, security think tanks and consultancy firms. Toulu is a Sorbonne graduate and holds an MA in Government Cum Laude at Israel’s Interdisciplinary Centre, specialising in counter-terrorism, homeland security and cybersecurity. As a CIPP/E and CIPM holder, certified as an ISO 22301, 27001, and 27701 lead implementer, Toulu has conducted Data Protection Compliance Audits for over ten globally renowned companies and led the Data Privacy enterprise at KPMG Nigeria, training both internal analysts and external clients. Her wealth of knowledge in data privacy and information security led her to become the global Data Protection Officer and ISMS Manager at Paystack, a leading fintech company acquired by U.S. payment company Stripe. Toulu is also a published researcher on African Cyber Threats (International Institute for Counter Terrorism) and West African jihad (Hudson Institute), with ad hoc security briefs and data protection compliance interviews for CGTN news Africa and TRT news. She was invited to deliver presentations on destabilisation and insurgencies across the Sahel, counter violent extremism, deradicalisation strategies, and participate as a panelist at NATO’s Centre of Excellence Defence Against Terrorism (COE-DAT), and Rwanda’s National Security Symposium. Toulu also sits on SON’s (Standards Organisation of Nigeria) National Mirror/Technical Committee for Financial Services, in addition to SON’s National Technical/Mirror Committee on Digitally Delivered Services/Trade.

Ikechukwu Ibeawuchi

Lead, Government Affairs, Cisco

Ikechukwu Ibeawuchi leads Government Affairs at Cisco Nigeria.
He has served on committees on trade, digital inclusion and Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria, including NASSBER and MAN. Called to the Nigerian Bar in 2014, he has a bachelor’s degree in law from Madonna University, Nigeria and a master’s degree in international law from Coventry University, United Kingdom. He was also part of the 2019 cohort participating in the Adaptive Leadership Executive Education Course at the Harvard Kennedy School of Governance in collaboration with the Aga Khan University, Nairobi, Kenya.

Adamma Isamade

Legal Officer, NDPC

Adamma Isamade, a legal practitioner turned Managing Principal of Ninth Inning Practice in Abuja, Nigeria, specializes in data protection, privacy, digital sovereignty and cybersecurity. Active within the Nigerian Bar Association and affiliated with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) and the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators, she has played key roles in shaping the Nigeria legal landscape. Notably, she consulted for the then Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) contributing to the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023. Currently, as the Head of Legal Unit of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, she oversees compliance across sectors, influencing national and international policies through inter-ministerial committees. Adamma also offers advisory services on compliance and capacity building in data protection and privacy, supporting both organisations and start-ups in Nigeria’s evolving regulatory environment. Her dedication contributes significantly to the advancement of data protection practices nationwide.

Mercy King’ori

Policy Manager for Africa, FPF

Mercy King’ori serves as a Policy Manager for the Global Privacy team at the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF). She is based in Nairobi, Kenya.

As a Policy Manager for FPF, she follows and analyzes privacy and data protection developments of laws and policies, case law, decisions by national data protection bodies and implementation of data protection and privacy laws in key African jurisdictions. She has spent a significant amount of time working on areas of digital finance and digital identification systems and their impact on data protection and privacy. Mercy obtained her law degree from Strathmore University, Nairobi in 2019 where her final thesis discussed the state of privacy laws within Kenya’s internet banking industry.

Publications, contributions and relevant activity

How the Kenyan High Court (temporarily) struck down the national digital ID Card: Context and Analysis

Data Protection in the Kenyan Banking Sector: A study of Publicly Available Data Policies of Commercial Banks operating in Kenya in Relation to a Set Data Protection Standard

Privacy and Data Protection Practices of Digital Lending Apps in Kenya

A Data Protection Guide for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Kenya 

The Data Protection Act as a tool for permitting innovation and consumer safety in Kenya’s digital finance market

The impact of Kenya’s Finance Act, 2019 on online services with regard to digital tax

Conference Presentation on preliminary research findings on developing a consent framework for the use of facial recognition systems among refugees (TILTing Perspectives 2021)

Ridwan Oloyede

AI Governance & Tech Policy Lead, Tech Hive Advisory

Ridwan leads the AI governance and tech policy teams at Tech Hive Advisory Africa and is the director at the Center for Law and Innovation. He advises on global data protection laws, supports privacy and AI governance program implementation and monitoring. Ridwan holds a Master’s in Law and Technology from Tilburg University. He is also a policy advisor and researcher. Ridwan is also the Co-Founder of  PrivacyLensAfrica, Privacy Guide Africa, and Privacy Bar & Bants, where he uses visualisation, gamification, and podcasting to draw attention to data protection in Africa.

He is designated as a country leader in Data and Data Protection by Who is Who Legal, a Fellow of Information Privacy with the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), and an expert at the Data Protection Unit of the Council of Europe.

Location

abuhitw 74491

Transcorp Hilton Abuja, 1 Aguiyi Ironsi Street Maitama, Abuja, 900001, Nigeria

Transcorp Hilton Abuja