Doing Business in Cote d'Ivoire

The Information Regulator has published a new Guidance Note on Direct Marketing ("Guidance Note") under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 ("POPIA")...

The Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition has published the Consumer Protection Act Amendment Regulations, 2026 (“2026 Amendments”) in terms of section 120(1)(a) read with section 11(6)...

Many member countries over the world have previously been suspended by FIFA owing to their complete disregard of FIFA's non-interference principle, which principle seeks to promote the independence of football federations who are member associations of FIFA.

South Africa's government directive mandates that all government data must reside within national borders when using cloud computing services, creating complex compliance challenges as modern cloud environments often involve cross-border data flows. This requirement forces government institutions and technology providers to carefully examine the entire data lifecycle, from storage and backup to access and processing, while ensuring compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act.

The South African Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies has introduced the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill (the "Bill") in the National Assembly.

The regulations intend to govern the validity period and roll-over of data. For instance, data bundles of 1GB to 5GB must remain valid for 90 days.

South Africa's National Consumer Commission Opt-Out Registry introduces a dual compliance framework that requires organisations to satisfy both POPIA's personal information processing requirements and the CPA's pre-emptive marketing blocks. Businesses must fundamentally restructure their technology, data management, and operational processes to prevent prohibited marketing communications from reaching consumers who have exercised their right to opt out.

On 17 November 2025, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) published draft amendments to the Official List of Regulated Standards for Technical Equipment and Electronic Communications Facilities Regulations (Technical Regulations).

AI systems are generating new categories of data that challenge traditional SaaS contract definitions, creating potential disputes between vendors and customers over ownership and usage rights. As synthetic data, embeddings, and vector databases emerge from AI processes, existing contractual frameworks for anonymised and aggregated data may prove inadequate to address the commercial, legal, and regulatory risks these novel datasets present.

South Africa's advertising and gambling regulators have established a formal partnership to enhance oversight of gambling advertising practices. This strategic alliance introduces stricter monitoring of digital campaigns, influencer marketing, and illegal online gambling promotions, signaling a new era of heightened scrutiny for industry players.