Digital transformation has emerged as one of the most significant forces reshaping governance, economic development, and social relations worldwide. Advances in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, digital platforms, and data-driven systems increasingly influence how states function, how economies integrate, and how rights are understood and protected. Both African and Asian countries are navigating complex opportunities and challenges as they adapt their regulatory frameworks to keep pace with rapid technological change. 

While digital technologies offer enormous potential for innovation, efficiency, and socio-economic development, they also raise profound questions about the distribution of regulatory authority, the governance of cross-border data, and the mechanisms required to safeguard individual and collective rights. Many of these questions cannot be resolved by national actors alone; they require comparative reflection, shared learning, and cooperation across jurisdictions with diverse legal traditions and institutional capacities. 

Against this backdrop, the Third Sino-African Legal Forum will bring together scholars, regulators, policymakers, and practitioners to examine the evolving intersections between state power, data governance, and rights protection in the digital age. The Forum aims to provide a platform for constructive dialogue and collaborative research between African and Chinese institutions on emerging legal frameworks, regulatory innovations, and shared challenges in governing digital transformation. 

We invite submissions that offer conceptual, doctrinal, empirical, or policy-oriented insights on the legal and institutional questions raised by digital transformation. Comparative analyses, particularly those examining African-Chinese experiences, are strongly encouraged. Papers may draw on public law, administrative law, constitutional law, data protection, technology law, governance studies, development studies, or related fields. 

The Forum aims to deepen Sino-African scholarly cooperation and foster a shared understanding of legal and governance challenges in the digital age. By bringing together diverse perspectives and research traditions, the conference aims to foster constructive dialogue 

and support the development of robust, context-specific, and forward-looking legal frameworks. 

Sub-Theme 1: Rethinking State Power in the Digital Age 

Digital technologies are reshaping the state's role, reach, and responsibilities. Governments increasingly rely on digital identity systems, electronic governance platforms, and large-scale data infrastructures to deliver public services, regulate markets, and maintain public order. At the same time, new forms of digital interdependence challenge traditional assumptions about territorial authority, institutional design, and the effectiveness of regulation. 

Submissions under this theme may examine: 

• How digitalisation is transforming state regulatory capacity and institutional structures 
• The integration of digital identity, biometric systems, and e-government platforms into governance 
• Constitutional and administrative law challenges arising from digital transformation 
• The responsibilities of states in ensuring transparency, accountability, and due process in digital environments 
• Comparative approaches to online regulation, digital public administration, and governance innovations in Africa and China 

This theme encourages analyses that reflect on how states adapt their legal frameworks and governance practices while maintaining legitimacy, effectiveness, and respect for fundamental legal principles. 

Sub-Theme 2: Governing Cross-Border Data Flows 

The global digital economy depends on the movement of data across borders. Data flows underpin trade, innovation, financial services, scientific research, and public-sector cooperation. Yet countries differ significantly in their approaches to regulating transnational data transfers. Balancing economic integration, technological development, sovereignty considerations, and security needs has become a central policy question for many jurisdictions. 

Papers under this theme may explore: 

• National, regional, and international approaches to governing cross-border data flows 
• How regulatory choices shape economic opportunities, innovation ecosystems, and investment environments 
• The interaction between data protection, national security, and digital trade frameworks 
• Regional initiatives, including in Africa and China, aimed at harmonising or coordinating data governance 
• Practical and legal challenges encountered by governments, firms, and institutions in managing cross-border transfers 

Contributions may offer comparative perspectives, case studies, legal analysis, or policy proposals for designing interoperable, predictable, and development-friendly data governance frameworks. 

Sub-Theme 3: Protecting Rights and Interests in the Data Economy 

The digital economy raises new and evolving questions about how rights and interests should be protected in environments characterised by pervasive data collection, algorithmic processing, and automated decision-making. Traditional legal frameworks, including privacy, consumer protection, administrative law, and anti-discrimination law, struggle to keep pace with the rapid development of new technologies and the structural imbalances they can create. 

This theme invites contributions that address: 

• Emerging approaches to data protection, privacy, and responsible data use 
• The challenges of ensuring fairness, transparency, and accountability in automated or AI-enabled systems 
• The governance of sensitive categories of data, including biometric and health data 
• The protection of vulnerable groups and the prevention of digital exclusion 
• Evolving institutional and rights-based mechanisms suited to data-intensive societies 

We particularly welcome papers offering comparative insights on African and Chinese legal developments, as well as analyses exploring how rights protection can be strengthened through legal innovation, regulatory cooperation, or institutional reform. 

Timelines 

The deadline for submitting abstracts is March 31, 2026. 
The abstracts should be no less than 600 words. 

Abstracts should be submitted to abdulrauf.la@unilorin.edu.ng , weifeng@ecupl.edu.cn and rammid@unisa.ac.za but copy cheng.mai@ecupl.edu.cn and Charles.fombad@up.ac.za 
Authors whose abstracts have been accepted will be notified by 30 April 2026.  The deadline for the submission of full papers (min. 5000 words) is 21 May 2026.  The Conference will be held on 30 and 31 July 2026. 

Venue 

Venue: Future Africa, Future Africa Campus, University of Pretoria, South St, Koedoespoort 456-Jr, Pretoria, 0186 

Cost of participation 

Participants will be responsible for their own participation costs. Refreshments and dinner will be provided during the conference, and the organisers will assist those who need to book accommodation close to the venue. However, there is a conference registration fee of R 1500,00 per participant. 

Publication 

Selected papers will be published in a special issue of an accredited journal. 

Contact 

Should you have any inquiry, please contact: charles.fombad@up.ac.za, cheng.mai@ecupl.edu.cn 

Hosts 

• Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa 
• Institute for Foreign-Related Rule of Law, East China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai, China. 
• Faculty of Law, University of Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. 

Organisers 

• Professor Charles Fombad,
  Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa,
  Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa 
  
  
• Professor Mai Cheng, Institute for Foreign-Related Rule of Law,
  East China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai, China. 
  
  
• Professor Serges Kamga,
  Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.