This week, six African nations, including Botswana, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and Mozambique, are gathered in Abuja to study Nigeria’s forward-looking data protection model. This moment of regional collaboration highlights a crucial truth: regulators are preparing, and boards must lead. It’s time for African directors to shift from compliance to proactive governance: data governance has moved from a choice to a strategic necessity. Regulators can pass laws, but only boards can create trust. Without governance, compliance is just paperwork.
“A recent study ranked Nigeria sixth among the ten countries least prepared for data security threats, showing how much work still lies ahead for boards to build true resilience.”
Why boards must care deeply
- Trust is built on governance, not just compliance
Governance frameworks – policies, oversight, technology, and roles – ensure data integrity, usability, and accountability. Without them, even the strongest protection laws fall short. Data governance is the foundation of data trust, especially for personal data. As regulators convene, boards must ask: Are we shaping governance or just hoping compliance will cover us? - Africa’s governance gap is significant but closing
While some African Union member states have adopted data protection laws, many still lack the functional institutions or implementation capacity to enforce them effectively. This governance vacuum puts citizens at risk and leaves businesses defenceless. Boards must fill this gap with internal systems that embed privacy and accountability in every business process. Where regulators lag, boards must leap. Waiting for governments to close the gap is not leadership – it is risk mismanagement. - Governance equals preparation for AI
Artificial intelligence thrives on data, but poor data governance fuels bias, errors, and reputational harm. African boards must treat governance as a prerequisite for responsible AI. Structured policies, ethical guardrails, and oversight transcend compliance; they are the launchpad for innovation that secures stakeholder trust.
Without data governance, AI becomes a liability. Let’s move beyond compliance to govern data in ways that earn trust, reduce risk, and power innovation.
Why data governance matters—A framework
Boards should anchor their governance around three essentials:
- Policy & oversight
Boards must hold executives accountable to clear, enforceable data governance policies covering data quality, privacy-by-design, roles like data stewards, and risk management across the data lifecycle. - Institutional resilience
Internal functions such as Data Protection Officers, Data Governance Councils, and continuous oversight mechanisms must be empowered and resourced. These structures ensure governance endures long after board directives are issued. - Privacy by design
Privacy and ethics must be embedded across the organisation from conceptualisation to design to execution so data stewardship becomes a natural practice, not an afterthought. This elevates governance from a defensive requirement to a strategic driver of trust and value.
A recent study ranked Nigeria sixth among the ten countries least prepared for data security threats, showing how much work still lies ahead for boards to build true resilience.
The moment is now
As regulators study Nigeria’s model, African boards must move from passive compliance to active governance. Your responsibility is clear: ensure governance systems are visionary, not reactive, especially where data and AI intersect.
African boards must seize this moment by first commissioning a thorough data governance audit to assess whether policies, roles, and processes are in place. They should then demand a clear governance roadmap that embeds privacy by design into every layer of innovation and AI deployment. Finally, boards must hold management accountable by monitoring key metrics such as trust scores, breach incidents, data quality, and audit readiness.
True board leadership in data governance goes far beyond avoiding fines; it is about building enduring trust, enabling responsible AI, and positioning the organisation as a leader in Africa’s digital transformation. Directors who embed governance into strategy will not only safeguard reputation but also unlock new opportunities in the data economy. Integrity, resilience, and foresight must be the compass because in Africa’s digital future, trust is the currency and governance is the engine that powers growth. Trust cannot be delegated. It begins and either flourishes or fails in the boardroom.
Amaka Ibeji is a Boardroom Certified Qualified Technology Expert and a Digital Trust Visionary. She is the founder of PALS Hub, a digital trust and assurance company, Amaka coaches and consults with individuals and companies navigating careers or practices in privacy and AI governance. Connect with her on linkedin: amakai or email amaka@palshub.net
