The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has reported that the country’s data protection industry generated 23,000 jobs in 2024, reflecting a 127% increase from the 10,123 jobs created in 2023.
The data was published in the 2024 Annual Data Protection Report, which also highlighted a significant boost in compliance revenue—rising from N325 million in 2023 to N1.5 billion in 2024. The number of verified Data Protection Officers also increased to 2,888, up from 1,955 in 2023.
Revenue growth
The Commission also revealed that the 2024 data protection cumulative revenue rose to N12 billion as against N6.2 billion in 2023.
The report stated that the number of companies that filed compliance audit reports also increased from 3,451 in 2023 to 4,691 in 2024.
Commenting on the report, the National Commissioner of the NDPC, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, said Nigeria has made significant progress in safeguarding the freedoms and interests of data subjects since the establishment of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) in 2023.
“The growth trajectory follows the developmental priorities of the Federal Government as well as the Strategic blueprint of the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.
“More importantly, it is a demonstration of our commitment to the implementation of the Nigeria Data Protection Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (NDPSRAP) 2023-2027,” he said.
He added that the Commission has been holding data controllers and processors accountable for their acts and omissions under the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDP Act).
Similarly, he said the requirement for fair, lawful, and transparent processing of personal data, rights to information, access, and objection to data processing, which many may esteem lightly prior to the 4th Industrial Revolution, are now very fundamental to the work of the Commission.
“This means that a trader in Ariara, Gusau or Balogun markets can rest assured that his/her personal data will not be used to open a bank account or to take a loan without his/her consent,” Olatunji stated.
What you should know
As of the time the Nigeria Data Protection Bill was signed into law in June 2023, Dr Vincent Olatunji said that the industry had contributed N5.5 billion to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
With the Act in Place, Olatunji declared that the industry’s contribution to the GDP would jump, adding that data protection has the potential to generate over 500,000 jobs.
While noting that Nigeria as the fifth most populated nation in the world is generating huge Data that needs to be protected from compromise, Olatunji said there are at least 500,000 data-generating bodies in Nigeria and each of them requires Data Protection officers to guide against breaches as enshrined in the Data Protection bill.
Dr Olatunji said there was also a huge career potential in data protection as the data generated daily throughout the globe needed to be policed based on domestic and foreign legal parameters.
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