By Alma Viviers, Mpho Moyo
In this interview, Senior Researcher Mpho Moyo shares the journey of how The Gambia became the first country to domesticate the AU Data Policy Framework.
When The Gambia officially validated its national data policy on 3rd July 2025, it quietly made history: it became the first African country to domesticate the African Union’s Data Policy Framework (AUDPF). For a continent grappling with uneven phases of digital transformation, this was more than a procedural milestone; it was proof that a continent-wide policy vision could be translated into grounded, context-specific national action.
Behind that achievement was a partnership with The Gambian Government and AU Development Agency-Nepad (AUDA-Nepad), led by Research ICT Africa (RIA), who had been commissioned by the German development agency GIZ to support The Gambia through the full domestication process. For RIA’s Mpho Moyo, who co-led the work, the success came down to one principle: “It was built with Gambians, by Gambians, not as something done to them.”
Continental vision becomes local reality
The AUDPF, drafted by RIA in 2022, was always intended as a guide, rather than a template, to harmonise data governance across Africa, enable safe and responsible data flows, unlock economic value, and reduce fragmentation. But, Moyo explains, domestication requires respecting the simple reality that “African countries are at different levels of development and at different points in their digital transformation journeys”. Because of this, she says, the framework “must be contextualised locally”.
That contextualisation was central to RIA’s mandate in The Gambia. Working with the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the Ministry of Information, two institutions with overlapping but distinct data responsibilities, RIA began by grounding the entire process in local realities, capacities, and constraints.
One of the first challenges was institutional coordination. “These two ministries were both responsible for data governance, but from different angles,” Moyo notes. “One focused on data protection and access to information, the other on data governance and digital economy development.” “We’re very happy to report that that an MoU between to two ministries was established. It really strengthened the policy process, because they were speaking with one voice.”
That early step, though administrative in appearance, was fundamental. As she puts it: “Policymaking is political. Coordination matters. Trust matters.”
Building the evidence base
From there, RIA initiated a multi-layered process of research, consultation, and drafting.
“We started with an inception meeting,” Moyo recalls, “and then we moved into capacity-building and stakeholder engagement.” Over the following months, RIA combined rigorous background research with 29 in-depth interviews across government, academia, civil society, and the private sector. They mapped the existing legal environment, reviewed digital and data infrastructure, analysed e-government initiatives, and identified challenges and opportunities across the national data ecosystem.
Importantly, this was not desktop work imposed onto Gambian realities, but was research that was tested, discussed, and reshaped through multiple rounds of consultation. RIA facilitated workshops to socialise the AU framework, gather insights, and understand the local environment.
“We were very deliberate about inclusion,” Moyo explains. “Representation matters. We reached out directly to civil society organisations and especially to women, because structural inequalities meant they were under-represented in the policy spaces we entered. We had to bring them into the room.”
That inclusive approach created a level of legitimacy that would prove vital later.
Validation through participation
If the early phases were about listening, the final validation workshop was about ownership.
More than 70 stakeholders gathered in Banjul for a two-day session where the draft was read line by line. Breakout groups then debated each section, and the plenary reconvened to accept, reject, or refine each vision, measure, and legal provision.
What might sound painstaking was, for Moyo, one of the moments she felt most proud of.
“Because we had done the background work, and because we had built trust,” she says, “the feedback aligned with what we had already found in our research.”
“That was so important. It showed that the policy actually reflected the conditions on the ground.”
Each night, RIA consolidated revisions; each morning, stakeholders reviewed and confirmed them. At the end, the policy was endorsed with “a resounding yes”.
The Gambia, as a result, became the first African country to validate a national data policy rooted in the AU framework, and to domesticate the continental data governance instrument in this way.
Trust, humility, and local ownership
When asked what most contributed to the success of the process, Mpho returns again and again to the same themes: “Integrity in our research. Ethical handling of stakeholder inputs. Transparency. Humility.”
“People need to feel you’re not coming to judge them or impose your ideas. They need to feel you’re there to help them articulate their priorities,” she says.
She also emphasises the importance of the partnership with the Gambian government and AUDA-Nepad, with GIZ as the funder, and singles out the contribution of Serign Modou Bah, the Director of Telecommunications at the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. “He was instrumental in ensuring we had access to the right people and that the policy process moved smoothly,” she says.
“We needed to build trust from the beginning between us and the country, and between ministries, departments and agencies, academia and civil society inside the country. That trust is what made this possible.”
Implementation and capacity
Validation is a milestone, not the finish line. Implementation remains a challenge not only in The Gambia but across the continent.
“It’s not a Gambian issue,” Mpho says. “It’s an African issue. We have many excellent policies, but implementation lags because of resource constraints and capacity gaps.”
What’s needed now, she argues, is long-term investment in skills, institutions, and foundational infrastructure. Multilateral organisations have a role to play. Peer learning will also be key. “As Africans, we have shared problems but also shared strengths. We can learn from each other. Through benchmarking and comparative research, we can show what works and why.”
The Gambia’s achievement demonstrates that domestication of the AUDPF is not only possible but powerful. It shows that when evidence, inclusion, and political coordination come together, continental aspirations can be translated into nationally owned strategies.
For RIA, it also reaffirms a guiding philosophy: policy must be rooted in rigorous research as well as the realities and voices of the people it is meant to serve.
