1. Who we are and who controls your data
The Intra-African Energy Trade & Investment Forum (“IAETIF”) is an initiative of the Africa Energy Technology Centre (“AETC”). For the personal information described in this Policy, AETC operates IAETIF and determines why and how that information is processed, unless a separate notice identifies another controller.
Published contact address: 1st Floor, 113A Mbabane Avenue, Shiashie, East Legon, Accra, Ghana. Privacy enquiries may be sent through our contact form or to info@theaetc.org.
2. Scope of this Policy
This Policy applies to personal information processed through the IAETIF website, enquiry forms, roadshow-interest submissions and related communications. It does not govern a third-party website merely because we link to it.
Additional notices or contractual privacy terms may apply to confirmed participants, speakers, sponsors, suppliers, project-review processes or in-person events. Where a specific notice conflicts with this general Policy, the more specific notice governs that processing.
3. Our data-protection approach
We aim to process personal information lawfully, fairly and transparently; for specified purposes; in a way that is adequate, relevant and limited; accurately; for no longer than necessary; and with appropriate security and accountability.
Our framework is designed with Ghana’s Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) in mind and, where applicable to individuals in the European Economic Area or United Kingdom, the GDPR and equivalent local rules.
4. Personal information we collect
Information you provide
- identity and professional details, such as name, organisation, role and country;
- contact details, such as work email and optional telephone number;
- participation choices, including roadshow, registration, investment, project, technology or sponsorship interest;
- the contents of messages, correspondence and follow-up communications; and
- consent, objection and preference records.
Information generated when you use the Site
- basic device, browser, requested URL, timestamp, IP-derived security signals and server diagnostic information;
- submission-security information, including an ephemeral hashed network identifier used for rate limiting;
- cookie or local-storage preferences described in our Cookie Policy; and
- if you enable Analytics, aggregated page-view information processed through Vercel Web Analytics, such as page path, referrer, approximate geography, device type, operating system and browser version. Vercel states that Web Analytics does not use third-party cookies or retain an IP address with the event.
Please do not submit sensitive personal information, confidential project files, financial-account credentials, government-restricted data or information about another person unless we specifically request it through an appropriately protected process.
5. Purposes and legal bases
The applicable legal basis depends on the relationship, purpose and jurisdiction.
| Purpose | Information | Primary basis |
|---|---|---|
| Respond to enquiries and assess participation | Identity, professional, contact, interest and message data | Steps requested before a potential engagement; legitimate interests in operating IAETIF; and consent where required |
| Arrange roadshow or commercial follow-up | Enquiry history, market interest and correspondence | Legitimate interests, steps before contract or performance of an agreement |
| Protect the Site and prevent abuse | Technical logs, security events and rate-limit signals | Legitimate interests in security, service integrity and fraud prevention; legal obligations where applicable |
| Maintain consent and privacy preferences | Preference category, version and timestamp | Compliance with legal obligations and legitimate interests in demonstrating user choice |
| Measure aggregated Site use after you opt in | Page path, referrer, approximate location and device or browser attributes | Consent |
| Send optional marketing updates | Name, work email and stated interests | Prior consent, where and when such communications are introduced |
| Comply with law and defend rights | Relevant records and correspondence | Legal obligation and legitimate interests in establishing, exercising or defending legal claims |
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider the necessity of the processing and its impact on your rights. You may object as described below. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting processing already carried out lawfully.
6. Whether information is required
Fields marked as required are necessary for us to understand and respond to an enquiry. Optional fields can be left blank. If required information is not provided, we may be unable to assess or respond to the request.
Submitting an enquiry remains voluntary and does not create a contract, confirmed place, funding commitment or partnership.
7. Who receives personal information
Access is limited to recipients who need the information for a legitimate purpose. They may include:
- authorised IAETIF and AETC personnel responsible for enquiries, programmes, partnerships, legal or security matters;
- email-delivery providers, currently SendGrid, used to transmit form submissions to the configured IAETIF recipient;
- hosting and consent-dependent analytics infrastructure provided by Vercel;
- other infrastructure, security and professional-service providers acting under appropriate obligations;
- a relevant roadshow or engagement counterparty, but only where sharing is reasonably expected, authorised, or separately notified; and
- regulators, courts, law-enforcement bodies or advisers where disclosure is legally required or necessary to protect rights and safety.
We do not sell personal information. We do not share enquiry data with third parties for their independent advertising.
8. International transfers
IAETIF is designed for international engagement, and some service providers or authorised recipients may process information outside Ghana or your country. Data-protection standards may differ between jurisdictions.
Where applicable law requires it, we will use an approved transfer mechanism, contractual safeguards, adequacy decision or legally permitted derogation, and will apply proportionate technical and organisational safeguards. You may contact us for information about the safeguard relevant to your data.
9. How long we retain information
We retain information only for as long as reasonably necessary for its stated purpose, legal obligations, dispute management and security.
| Record | Indicative retention |
|---|---|
| Unsuccessful or general enquiries | Up to 24 months after the last substantive interaction, unless a shorter period is appropriate |
| Active participation or commercial discussions | For the relationship and then up to 6 years where needed for agreements, audit or legal claims |
| Consent and objection records | For the life of the relevant preference and a reasonable evidential period afterwards |
| Local cookie-preference record | Up to 6 months, unless you clear it or choose again sooner |
| Vercel Web Analytics visitor hash | Vercel states that the temporary visitor identifier is discarded after 24 hours; aggregated reporting may be retained according to the configured Vercel service and account settings |
| Security and rate-limit information | Ordinarily minutes or short operational periods; longer only where needed to investigate an incident |
These periods are ceilings, not promises to retain every record for the full period. Information may be anonymised or deleted earlier. Legal holds or regulatory requirements may require longer retention.
10. Security
We use proportionate measures designed to protect information against accidental or unlawful loss, misuse, alteration, disclosure or access. Current controls include server-side validation, bot detection, submission throttling, restricted environment configuration, transport security when deployed over HTTPS and data-minimised logging.
No online transmission or storage system is completely secure. Do not send high-risk or confidential material through the general form. If you believe information has been compromised, contact us promptly.
11. Your privacy rights
Subject to applicable law and relevant exceptions, you may have rights to:
- be informed about processing and obtain access to your personal information;
- correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
- request deletion, restriction or cessation of certain processing;
- object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing;
- withdraw consent at any time;
- receive certain information in a portable format;
- avoid a significant decision based solely on automated processing; and
- complain to a competent data-protection authority.
To exercise a right, use our contact form and state “Privacy request” in your message, or email info@theaetc.org. We may need proportionate information to verify identity and protect your data from unauthorised access. We will respond within the period required by the law that applies to your request.
12. Complaints and regulators
Please contact us first so we can investigate and respond. You also have the right to complain to the Ghana Data Protection Commission or, where GDPR or another law applies, the supervisory authority in the country where you live, work or believe an infringement occurred.
Ghana Data Protection Commission information is available at dataprotection.org.gh.
13. Children
The Site and IAETIF’s commercial engagement services are directed to professional audiences and are not intended for children. We do not knowingly solicit personal information from anyone under 18 through the enquiry form. If you believe a child has provided information, contact us so we can assess and delete it where appropriate.
14. Automated decisions
IAETIF does not currently use enquiry information to make decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects. Form validation and anti-spam controls may automatically reject malformed or abusive submissions, but substantive participation decisions require human review.
15. Cookies and similar technologies
Our Cookie Policy describes the storage technologies used by the Site. Non-essential categories remain off unless you choose them. You can reopen the preference centre using “Cookie settings” in the footer.
16. Changes and contact
We may update this Policy when the Site, providers or legal requirements change. Material changes will be communicated through an appropriate Site notice where practicable. The date above identifies the current version.
Privacy questions and requests: IAETIF contact form or info@theaetc.org. Postal contact: Africa Energy Technology Centre, 1st Floor, 113A Mbabane Avenue, Shiashie, East Legon, Accra, Ghana.