Executive Summary
As digital transformation accelerates across Africa and beyond, personal data now underpins nearly every aspect of modern life, from commerce and governance to communication and innovation. Safeguarding privacy, a fundamental constitutional right, continues to be a pressing priority for regulators and organizations entrusted with managing personal information. Against this backdrop, the Unwanted Witness Privacy Scorecard Report serves as a comprehensive monitoring tool for assessing how public and private entities comply with national and international data protection and privacy laws. Beyond evaluation, the report provides actionable insights and recommendations to strengthen institutional compliance and accountability.
In 2025, Unwanted Witness broadened its monitoring scope to cover nine African countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Uganda, expanding from six countries in 2024, four in 2023, and two in 2022 and one in the inaugural 2021 edition.
Country Findings
The assessment shows that, much like the previous year, overall performance at the country level continues to fall below the 50% compliance threshold, even though improvements are visible within several sectors. The composite country index rose modestly from 40% to 46%, with Kenya once again achieving the highest score, followed in descending order by Nigeria, Uganda, Mauritius, Ghana, Botswana, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.
Sector Findings
Sector-level results, however, reveal more pronounced progress: the Banking and Finance sector maintained its position as the leading performer, climbing to 52% from last year's 42%. Telecommunications followed with 46% (up from 39%), Insurance reached 44% (an increase from 40%), while E-commerce remained stagnant at 39%. Government and Health services continued to register the weakest compliance outcomes. These figures collectively illustrate both the incremental advancements and the persistent structural gaps shaping country and sector trajectories.
Telecommunications Sector
E-commerce
Banks & Finance
Insurance
Online Betting Sector
Health
Digital Loans Services
Government Agencies
