Africa: Technology

Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity and digital sovereignty have fundamentally changed the way governments think about data. Around the world, policymakers are increasingly asking where data should be stored, who should have access to it and under what circumstances it should leave national borders. These questions are no longer confined to technology policy, they have become matters of economic policy, national security, industrial development and international trade.

When actress Anita Joseph used AI to swap her face onto content creator Caramel Plug's birthday photograph, it sparked a viral controversy that exposed critical gaps in how Nigeria's creative industry understands copyright ownership. Under the Copyright Act 2022, the photographer—not the subject—typically owns the image, while AI-generated derivatives exist in a legal gray zone that may leave no one with enforceable rights.

Agentic AI systems operate autonomously, making decisions and processing data in ways users cannot predict or control. This creates a fundamental mismatch between existing data-protection frameworks built on notice-and-choice principles and the reality of how these systems collect, infer, and share personal information. The article examines whether current consent models, controller definitions, and liability frameworks can adequately govern AI agents that independently chain data sources

Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity and digital sovereignty have fundamentally changed the way governments think about data. Around the world, policymakers are increasingly asking where data should be stored, who should have access to it and under what circumstances it should leave national borders. These questions are no longer confined to technology policy, they have become matters of economic policy, national security, industrial development and international trade.

Meta's introduction of username-based communication on WhatsApp represents a fundamental architectural shift for the world's most popular messaging service...

Nigerian technology businesses face a critical challenge in AI governance: data poisoning attacks that embed harmful patterns during model training, before traditional guardrails can detect them. This analysis examines how adversarial manipulation of training data creates legal, cybersecurity, and procurement risks that existing controls may miss. Understanding where poisoning enters the AI pipeline and how Nigerian law applies to these threats is essential for organizations deploying AI systems.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed a Presidential Executive Order establishing Nigeria's first coordinated national framework for virtual assets regulation. The Order creates a Virtual Asset Council comprising the CBN, SEC, NRS, NFIU and ONSA to harmonize oversight, clarify regulatory responsibilities, and eliminate fragmented supervision across digital asset activities. How will this institutional restructuring impact VASPs, market participants, and the broader Nigerian digital assets ecosystem?

South Africa's buy-now-pay-later sector faces heightened regulatory scrutiny as the Reserve Bank flags potential household financial stress risks. As BNPL products blur the lines between payment innovation and consumer credit, the debate centers on whether current regulatory frameworks adequately address affordability assessments, bureau reporting, and consumer protection in this rapidly growing market.

Digital lending in Nigeria has revolutionized access to finance through mobile platforms offering instant unsecured loans, but this rapid growth has sparked intense debate over pricing practices and consumer protection. As regulators scrutinize high interest rates, hidden fees, and complex terms, lenders defend their models as necessary responses to elevated credit risk and operational costs. The central question remains: how can Nigeria balance innovation-driven financial inclusion with meaningful safeguar