Cellulant says it is enforcing stricter control on its payment platform serving over 220 million consumers amid the firm’s compliance with data protection rules in Nigeria.
The leading Pan African payments company that provides what it describes as locally relevant and alternative payment methods for global, regional, and local merchants will continue to protect its customers’ personal information and avail them the opportunity to exercise their rights as data subjects, Sike Bamisebi, Cellulant’s Chief Business Officer says in a statement.
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) recently recognised Cellulant Nigeria for being compliant with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) and among the 2020-2021 NDPR Audit Compliant Organisations.
We provide a single API payments platform that enables businesses to collect payments online and offline while allowing anyone to pay from their mobile money, local and international cards or directly from their bank
Cellulant
Cellulant on Why Data Protection is Key
NITDA was created in April 2001 to implement the Nigerian Information Technology Policy and coordinate general IT development. The Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), issued in January 2019 under Section 6 (a,c) of the NITDA Act 2007, is the current national law on data protection in Nigeria. It applies to public and private sector processing of personal data within and outside Nigeria, Cellulant says.
“We provide a single API payments platform that enables businesses to collect payments online and offline while allowing anyone to pay from their mobile money, local and international cards or directly from their bank”, Cellulant says underscoring that it has office presence in 18 African countries with its payments platform connecting thousands of businesses with 154 payment options across 35 countries. “The platform powers payments for 220M consumers on a single inclusive network allowing interoperability across Africa”, according to the payment technology firm.
“We are extremely proud of this milestone,” Bamisebi says. “This further affirms our commitment to protecting our customers’ personal information by ensuring their data is used lawfully, represented accurately, stored securely, and availing them the opportunity to exercise their rights as data subjects. We will continue to enhance our data protection controls to mitigate known and emerging data risks and ensure our data processing activities comply with relevant data protection regulations.”
The recognition demonstrates Cellulant’s commitment to protecting its customers’ personal information and availing them of the opportunity to exercise their rights as data subjects, according to Bamisebi. “This commitment extends to Cellulant’s continued efforts to enhance data protection controls to mitigate known and emerging data risks.”
DataPro Limited conducted Cellulant Nigeria Data Protection Compliance Audit, according to the payment technology company. “DataPro is a licensed Data Protection Compliance Organisation (DPCO) in Nigeria which is also the first Independent Compliance Consulting Company in Nigeria. DataPro has extensive experience in providing Compliance Solutions to organisations globally.”
“Conducting a Data Protection Compliance Audit is imperative to enable an organisation to identify deficiencies and gaps relating to its policies, operations, and technical security measures. Therefore, Cellulant Nigeria’s listing showcases its commitment to complying with the Audit requirement of the NDPR as well as upholding the privacy of its data subjects.” Jesutomiwa Ademiloye, DataPro’s Compliance Programs, and Projects Team Lead.
The Nigerian government recently created the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) to oversee data protection and privacy and implementation of the NDPR, the Nigerian data protection rules that came into effect January 25, 2019 to provide safety nets for private information of Nigerians in the digital age.
NDPB has been established in line with global best practices and will focus on data protection and privacy for the country, among others, according to the government.
The successful implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria, the government says, has significantly increased the adoption of data platforms and accelerated the datafication of our society. This has increased the importance of having an institution that focuses on data protection and privacy.
Apart from that, the issuance of the NDPR in January 2019, as subsidiary legislation to the NITDA Act 2007, “has increased awareness about the need for data protection and privacy.”
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