Effective regulations have been drafted to govern Africa’s tech space, but there is a lack of sanctions to enforce compliance, according to a top technology regulator.
Abossé Akue-Kpakpo, director of digital economy at the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) Commission, said African Business at GITEX Africa in Marrakesh that his organization has introduced several pieces of legislation related to the digital economy, but lacks the tools to ensure their enforcement.
“It is too difficult [to force the rules to be imposed] but we have some mechanisms that we are trying to use,” says Akue-Kpakpo. “For example, each year each country is required to prepare a report that examines and assesses the extent to which it has implemented the Commission’s recommendations. The results are then sent to the highest levels of the state, up to the prime minister or the president.”
But Akue-Kpakpo says that despite passing on her recommendations, the regulator she leads lacks the power to impose more practical sanctions, such as fines for those who don’t comply.
“We cannot impose fines or penalties, except in certain circumstances. We can impose sanctions if countries do not apply the rules around ensuring fair competition, for example. But overall, we don’t have those powers.”
Lack of enforcement
A common narrative in Africa is that a lack of regulation is a major barrier to the development of the continent’s next-generation digital industries, such as fintech and artificial intelligence (AI). Mobile money leaders, for example, recently cited insufficient and inconsistent regulation as a barrier to the growth of Africa’s cross-border payments space. Global consulting firm McKinsey has similar he argued that the continent’s “uncertain regulatory environment” is partly responsible for stifling innovation.
Without broad and sound regulation, entrepreneurs do not feel sufficiently secure to develop new products and services and bring them to market, while investors do not feel that their capital is protected enough to devote resources to new industries.
However, regulators working in pan-African regulatory agencies believe they have developed many of the regulations these industries have called for. The real problem, in their eyes, is the lack of effective enforcement mechanisms.
Akue-Kpakpo notes that UEMOA has developed several new initiatives aimed at strengthening legislation in Africa’s digital economy, such as the “Regional Digital Economy Development Programme” which aims to introduce more stringent legal frameworks for strategic industries.