She gave her speech at the Data Protection Commission's office in Accra on 28th January, 2022

She said that Africa had been dormant with regard to putting data together but had now become active.

She disclosed that Ghana was the only English speaking country in the African region that had established a Data Protection Law  as well as a Data Protection body.

"The last time we met in the region, as part of my mandate at the regional level, I personally led 7 new English speaking African  countries to be included in the group" Ms. Adusei-Poku noted.
 
She said that the Global Data Privacy Week was also ongoing in Nigeria, Malawi, Sao Tome and a number of other countries.

Ms. Adusei-Poku pointed out that the commission would work with the Cyber Security Authority to train experts in Artificial
 
Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things(IoT), Cyber Security among others to ensure that many institutions in Ghana were using the appropriate  technologies to take and manage data.

She said that the commission was also working on a National AI Strategy to serve as a guide for institutions when collecting

data.

Ms. Adusei-Poku noted that the commission had engaged in a  number of activities as part of its mandate despite encountering  challenges  due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms. Adusei-Poku said that as at March 2021 about 800 companies had registered with the commission for their data protection license and urged every company to register with them to avoid penalties.

"It is important that we have companies in our system because it helps us to strategize. The system automatically categorizes companies in sectors, size and scale and this helps us identify the sensitivity of the data you hold.

This helps us channel our limited resources properly to see what kind of training we can put together, in terms of education, awareness building and so on" she explained.

She said that data controllers now have a new system that allows them to liaise with the commission to ensure the protection of private data.

She stated that proper data handling also helped boost business for companies and allowed customers to believe in the transparency of the company's activities.

 "We are restless and challenge them on your behalf , we can ensure you we are working with institutions to make sure they do the right thing" she noted.

The Deputy Minister  of Communication Honourable Ama Pomaa Boateng said that institutions had the mandate to ensure that the data they collected was safe.

 "It's a fundamental right of a people and it needs to be protected" she stated.

She said that data was at the core of the digitization of the economy.

Ghana's progress in data protection, she noted, was greatly admired in the African region and added that Government was dedicated to digitalized transformation.

"While we maximize the benefits of our data driven economy, DPC will ensure that risks are mitigated to increase legitimacy and public trust" she added.

She urged the commission to partner with the newly established Cybersecurity Authority and other agencies.

The commission also disclosed that they will be accrediting institutions that would want to  offer data protection as a service and this would be advertised in the dailies.

 They would also launch a TV program to educate the public on Data Protection in the country.

The event was held under the theme : "Transparency, Trust and Transformation in a Digitized World"