Data protection laws have spread rapidly across Africa and beyond, and enforcement is moving from guidance to fines and orders. At the same time, customers and partners ask harder questions about how their information is used. Many organisations respond by appointing a data protection officer, only to find that the role comes with little structure, limited authority and few tools.

This course gives participants an operating method rather than a legal lecture. It starts with the principles and rights that sit behind most modern privacy statutes, then moves quickly to practice: building a data inventory, selecting a lawful basis, drafting privacy notices, managing consent and responding to access, correction and deletion requests. It continues with risk-based tools such as data protection impact assessments, vendor due diligence, data sharing agreements and rules on transfers abroad. Breach response is rehearsed step by step, from detection to regulator and individual notification.

Throughout the week participants work with templates and short case files from sectors including finance, health and education. They finish by assembling a first-year privacy programme with priorities, owners, a training plan and measures of progress that they can present to senior management.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Explain the core principles of data protection and the rights of data subjects.
• Select and document an appropriate lawful basis for different processing activities.
• Build a data inventory and a record of processing activities.
• Conduct a data protection impact assessment for a new system or project.
• Manage consent, privacy notices and data subject requests within required timelines.
• Review processor contracts and cross-border transfer arrangements.
• Assess, contain and report a personal data breach.
• Define the DPO role, reporting lines and a programme of audits and awareness training.

The course is designed for people who hold or support data protection responsibilities, including:

• Appointed and aspiring data protection officers
• Compliance, risk and legal officers
• IT, information security and systems managers
• Human resources managers handling employee records
• Marketing, customer relations and digital managers
• Internal and external auditors
• Health records and school administration managers
• NGO programme and monitoring staff who collect beneficiary data

Participants leave the course with:

• A data inventory and record of processing template.
• A completed sample impact assessment they can adapt.
• Standard wording for privacy notices and consent statements.
• A data subject request log with response workflow.
• A breach response playbook with notification checklist.
• A twelve-month privacy programme plan to present to management.

The course mirrors a DPO's working week through hands-on exercises. Delivery includes:

• Plain-language explanations of legal concepts tied to daily decisions
• Template-based workshops for inventories, notices and impact assessments
• Case files drawn from banking, health, education and public service
• A timed breach simulation with notification decisions
• Group review of draft privacy programmes

Participants who attend the sessions and complete the practical exercises receive a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy. It documents professional development in data protection practice and does not replace any statutory registration or licensing.