Project Reports

Africa is quickly becoming the new data frontier in the face of continued increase in the deployment of digital technologies. A proportionate data governance ecosystem is, however, still lacking. The available governance ecosystem is characterised by a lack of relevant institutions or in most cases non-functional institutions for effective data governance implementation. As part of the bid to understand how to create a functional and responsible data governance ecosystem that can play a vital role in Africa's competitiveness in the global data economy, this report explored the questions; what are the institutional gaps impeding responsible and sustainable data governance in Africa and what are the peculiar institutional capacity needs of existing institutions? To answer these questions, we used a multidimensional research approach to study five African countries namely Nigeria, Morocco, Kenya, Mauritius and South Africa. In this study, we identified clear institutional gaps and capacity needs that require significant attention.

The fact is that indigenous firms are still struggling to manage resources to invest in basic IT infrastructure. Hence data analytics adoption, which requires both human personnel and technical infrastructure, is often yet to be strategically considered, shelved for the future, or even when outsourced, it is often poorly managed and under-resourced. Others are also driven by the visibility and immediacy of results or value, which is not a characteristic of data analytics. Data analytics often requires a more intentional strategic alignment to business processes, and otherwise, its value may not be realised.
Further, for innovation to occur, data analytics processes must be sustainable. It is often a long-term value realisation activity, which many indigenous firms tend to shy away from due to limited resources and understanding.
The report argues for the need to enhance data analytics use at the national and regional levels. It proposes fifteen recommendations for creating an all-inclusive enabling environment for indigenous businesses.

This Article was Authored by Prof. Richard Boateng

The number of out-of-school children (OOSC) in Nigeria has increased at an alarming rate over the past years, reaching approximately 10.5 million children. According to the global out-of-school statistics compiled by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), this figure is the highest any country has ever recorded. UNICEF (2022) corroborates the high OOS rates in Nigeria, reporting that one in every five out-of-school children in the world is a Nigerian. The statistics are even much worse in the Northern part of Nigeria compared to other parts of the country. Net school attendance rate in Northern Nigeria, for example, is 53 percent, indicating high dropout risk. This is not withstanding continuous efforts by the federal government to enhance access to education (primary to junior secondary level) by making it free and compulsory. Evidence suggests that the high out-of-school risk in Northern Nigeria is largely associated with conflict situations and other disturbances, though socio-cultural norms, economic barriers, among others, still play a significant role.

A major argument for advocating for a participatory approach in developing Africa’s data policies and systems stems from the underlying drivers and principles guiding data governance. These principles cut across several themes such as human and digital rights protection, transparency and accountability, that are geared towards engendering greater confidence in the data ecosystem, for more purposeful development outcomes. In view of this, it is impossible for policy makers to effectively protect citizens’ data rights without extensive collaboration with, and input from the people being protected. But how can the public be active in data policy processes and systems or hold responsible parties accountable if they are not fully aware of their rights and responsibilities?

This report was written by Tomiwa Ilori

Tobacco consumption is associated with about 29,472 deaths in Nigeria alongside other health and economic impact. Meanwhile, evidence has shown that exposure to health warnings reduces tobacco consumption by providing information about the risks of tobacco. Consequently, evaluating the effect of affixing health warnings on cigarette packs on prevented premature deaths and disease events, years of lives lost due to premature death and disability, and savings in health costs is important in the Nigerian context.

Aim: The paper sought to estimate the health and economic implications of existing, new, and the WHO-recommended labelling policies in Nigeria.

Data and Methodology: The data utilized include costs, demographic, epidemiologic and economic data. An individual-level microsimulation model was employed to examine the impact of the current cigarette labelling policies (text only health warnings); new cigarette labelling policies (text and graphic health warnings with the total display area covered increasing from 50% to 80% over 10 years); and the WHO-recommended labelling policies (plain packaging and health warnings covering at least 80% of the pack).