Description:

Africa Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) Agreement plans a chapter on digital trade. Data flows on one side, and data localization, data ownership and data rights on the other, is a sticky point in trade deals. The views are mostly divided along the lines of developed countries and developing countries. ACFTA is a trade agreement among developing countries, and fears of data-based exploitation may be relatively less (though admittedly not entirely ruled out). Digital economy needs data organization at scale, and a mutual agreement among the African nations on how this can be done so that the benefits of a data economy for Africa are maximized while protecting every country’s data and economic interests.

Looking at how data can be governed in such an agreement can also help lay the foundation for global-scale data based digital trade in a manner that not protects just privacy and security of data (on which there is now pressure from groups like the EU as well) but also economic rights and entitlements. A data agreement in ACFTA context can be important testing ground for developing data governance frameworks that are based on indivisibility of human rights, and combine data related civil and political rights (privacy, security, FoE) with social and economic rights, and right to development, as related to the data of countries, communities and individuals. In its 2021 Digital Economy Report, UNCTAD has also sought a global framework for data governance that combines economic and non-economic issues related to data.

The workshop like involve international organizations like UNCTAD, South Center, and UN Commission for Africa, with African governments and civil society, and some outside experts, to deliberate on the above issues.