The Role of Data Localization Laws of Ethiopia in Realizing Digitalization Targets of Digital Ethiopia Agenda 2025: Comparative Study
| dc.contributor.advisor | Mandefro Eshete | |
| dc.contributor.author | Bethelhem Gebre | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-03-05T11:33:55Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-03-05T11:33:55Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024-12-01 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Policy documents such as the one this research will examine, i.e. Digital Ethiopia Agenda 2025, are a token to the desire of the Government of Ethiopia to building a digital eco-system and catching up with the rest of the world that had embarked on the digitalization journey long ago. Digitalization is not just a matter of catching up with global fashion, the opportunities it brings with it are believed to be invaluable to small economies such as ours wishing to venture into global trade. Building a digital economy, however, can be equated to placing structural bricks one by one as the eco system is composed of inter-complementary components. One of these components is the need to protect actors of the digital economy from potential abuse of their personal data. The brick of data protection framework, encompassing data protection laws and DPAs, is there to provide assurance that the digital space is a safe space. Another one of such bricks is the need to enhance digital trade. If digital could not support economies such as ours by improving the cost and convenience of trade, arguably we have lost the use case for going digital. These and other bricks forming the digital ecosystem must be well balanced to cause no harm and detriment on one another. That is; Digital trade must not flourish at the risk and compromise of digital safety and digital safety should not be too broadened where denial of approvals is perceived to be the only safety precaution. A key area of interest is the free flow of data across jurisdictions; arguably, restrictions on the free flow of data limit a country's opportunity of fully benefiting from digital transformation and Privacy can be used as a pretext for imposing disguised restrictions on digital trade. While Ethiopia may be a digital late starter, this is not a foreign concept to our jurisdiction. Utilizing the opportunity presented by the enactment of a comprehensive Personal Data Protection Proclamation in 2024, this research examined the conditions for cross border transfer of data set out under the Proclamation from the angle of achieving the digital transformation targets under the 2025 strategy document. The aim is to clear the ambiguity of the Country’s position about data localization and do a compatibility test with international and regional benchmarks. A comparative research method is utilized to analyze and interpret the findings of the research. The research found out that via its data sovereignty principle, the Proclamation is set with strict data localization requirements where offshore processing and storage of data is prohibited for specified data sets. The research further found out that this sets Ethiopia apart from cited jurisdictions where predominantly conditional cross border data transfer is adopted as the best practice. Be that as it may, it is further found that localizing African’s data in continental servers/ Data Centers is a recommended practice in the continental Digital transformation strategy document. However, the research’s finding show incompatibility of the Proclamation with the four criterions of the AfCFTA’s digital trade protocol which served as a test for legitimate restriction of free flow of data. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/7847 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Addis Ababa University | |
| dc.subject | Mandefro Eshete | |
| dc.title | The Role of Data Localization Laws of Ethiopia in Realizing Digitalization Targets of Digital Ethiopia Agenda 2025: Comparative Study | |
| dc.type | Thesis |