Tanzania’s Data Protection law comes into effect

Dar es Salaam. The Personal Data Protection Act in Tanzania has come into effect from May 1, 2023, five months after it was passed in parliament.

The new law was tabled for the first time in Parliament in September, 2022 and passed by Parliament in November, 2022.

The act was then published in the government gazette on April 28, by the Minister for Information, Communication, and Information Technology, Nape Nnauye.

"This notice indicated that May 1, 2023 has been picked as the official start of the use of the Personal Data Protection Act in the country," reads part of the information that was signed by Mr Nape.

In November 2022, the Parliament passed the Personal Data Protection Bill 2022, whereas legislators jointly shed light on the advantages of the expected law upon its being assented to by President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

While speaking during the Connect 2 Connect Forum September last year Mr Nape said; "As more and more social and economic activities shift to online platforms,  the importance of privacy and data protection is increasingly inevitable we need to make our sky safe."

However, when tabling the bill for the second reading in the Parliament, Minister Nape argued that the bill, once enacted into law, was meant to attract more investors, especially in the information and communications technology sector.

"After the new Act being signed by the President, we will witness a flood of investors here," Mr Nape said.

He added: In today’s world, investors do not go to invest in countries where there is no law on personal data protection. No doubt that with this law, we will attract more investors, particularly into the ICT sector.

He said in the course of the implementation of the Data Protection Law, Tanzania will borrow a leaf from countries that have already applied the same law.

According to him, in doing so, Tanzania would be able to address challenges associated with the law, thus making it sound for users.