Personal data is a precious mineral that must be extracted with human rights safeguards to avert adverse impacts on fundamental rights. In 2022, Eswatini enacted a data protection law following closely behind its Southern African counterparts, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which enacted their laws on 23 March 2021 and 3 December 2021, respectively.
On the other hand, Malawi and Namibia are yet to enact data protection legislation. An assessment of the Eswatini and Zambia data protection enactments presents some significant differences. While the assessment of the laws below is not exhaustive, it highlights what other countries yet to enact data protection laws can emulate or avoid.