Data protection industry created a total of 10,123 jobs for Nigerians in 2023, representing a 5.7 per cent increase when compared with the 9,577 jobs created in 2022, Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has revealed.
Along with an increase in compliance revenue to N325 million from N94.4 billion in 2022, there was a corresponding increase in verified Data Protection Officers from 1, 928 in 2022 to 1,955 in 2023, the Commission disclosed this in its Annual Data Protection Report, released over the weekend.
Among other things, it said, the number of probes increased from 117 in 2022 to 177 in 2023, while revealing that the 2023 data protection cumulative revenue rose to N6.2 billion as against N5.5 billion in 2022.
Other areas that the rates increased included Compliance Audit Report which recorded 3,451 reports from 2022 to 2023, against 1,864 from 2020 to 2021, the report added.
In his reaction, the head of legal, enforcement, and regulations of NDPC, Mr Babatunde Bamigboye, described the commission’s accomplishments as particularly noteworthy.
“We are creating the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) general application and implementation directive. The NDPA established the groundwork for data privacy and protection in the nation. We have also enhanced our audits. As a result, we have been accepted into the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA) and numerous organizations are starting to submit audit reports to us.
“The court also is beginning to recognize the importance of adequacy in terms of cross-border data transfer and we are happy that the ecosystem is evolving and getting stronger,’’ he said.
As a member of GPA, Nigeria can get mutual legal assistance on enforcement, capacity building, information sharing, and intergovernmental collaboration, Bamigboye affirmed.
