EU Regulation impacting Africa

11 September 2017 Nils G. Indahl

Hi-tech countries such as Kenya are discovering that the new EU Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will affect African companies that do business with Europe. “Although it is an EU regulation, the GDPR will undoubtedly have implications for countries in Africa,” says Juliet Maina, an advocate at Trippleoklaw Advocates Nairobi.

The new European data protection law will take effect on 25 May 2018. It will apply to all companies that store or transmit information regarding citizens of the European Union, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Like many African states, Kenya does not have a national data protection law. Morocco, on the other hand, has requested an adequacy recognition from the European Commisson.

Data protection GDPR