The Right to Privacy Relating to Credit Reporting: A Critical Review of the Emerging Africa's Credit Reference Market

摘要

Africa is experiencing tremendous growth in its con-sumer credit which is characterized by an emerging credit reporting system. While credit reporting is crucial for a stable and sustainable financial market to flourish, protection of personal data that is part of credit reports generated by credit reference bureaus is equally important. The adoption of inadequate data protection standards or credit reporting regulations may create problems in credit reporting. This article reviews the progress in credit reporting in Africa as well as its legal foundations. It employs a case study approach of credit reporting regulations in the African countries of Kenya, Ghana, Angola, and South Africa to assess how adequate are such regulations in securing personal data. Standards set by international organizations such as the Council of Europe (CoE), European Union, Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and United Nations (UN) are included. The overall argument that is raised in this article is that the emerging credit reporting regulations in Africa incorporate minimum principles of processing personal data similar to standards set in international best practices. However, the scope and extent of such principles is still limited.