Following the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC)’s study tour to France, the National Commissioner/CEO, Dr Vincent Olatunji, received a delegation from the French Embassy in Nigeria, led by the Financial Counsellor, Mrs Carole Lebreton. The meeting was also attended by a delegation from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), led by Engineer Lanre Yusuf, and, virtually, by the Economic Counsellor at the French Lagos Office, Ms Laura Marie.

Dr Olatunji, on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, commended the French Government for the visit and evaluated the activities undertaken during the trip to determine next steps. He gave a brief overview of the NDPC Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan and emphasised cooperation and collaboration. In response, Mrs Lebreton commended the NDPC for its interest in collaboration with French organisations, including the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL), the Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs (DINUM), and Expertise France, among others.

The NDPC Head of Legal, Enforcement and Regulation, Barrister Babatunde Bamigboye, in a presentation, outlined key outcomes and lessons learnt, which include institutional strengthening and regulatory alignment, innovation and AI governance, and cross-border data governance, among others. He also highlighted possible areas of collaboration, such as public awareness and sensitisation, digital trust integration in national projects, SME and startup support, as well as regulatory cooperation and capacity building, among others.

The NIMC team also provided feedback from its perspective. Consequently, the team discussed next steps on the implementation of the collaborative efforts, and a working group was established to drive the implementation.