Arnold E. Kavaarpuo
Dr. Arnold Kavaarpuo is a Tech-Public Policy Bridgebuilder for Africa, with more than two decades of experience driving innovation at the intersection of digital governance, financial inclusion, and public sector transformation. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Data Protection Commission of Ghana, where he leads the country’s national agenda on data privacy, AI governance, and the development of trusted digital public infrastructure.
Arnold is spearheading a modern, rights-based approach to data protection, while leading cross-sectoral initiatives on responsible AI, open banking, and cross-border data frameworks. His leadership is helping position Ghana as a continental trailblazer in ethical digital transformation, aligning local regulation with global standards and emerging technology risks.
Before his public sector appointment, Arnold founded and led StacAi, a fintech company that built a financial trust infrastructure for embedded credit and digital identity systems. He previously served as a Managing Director with Kuda Technologies UK, and as Country Director and founding executive of Jumo Ghana, where he developed and scaled Africa’s largest mobile credit portfolios, including QwikLoan, XpressLoan, and AhomkaLoan: reaching over 4.6 million users and enabling $2.2 billion in disbursements before exiting.
Arnold’s experience spans both grassroots and global platforms. He has worked across East, West, and Southern Africa on financial inclusion, digital credit, and policy innovation, and served on the boards of regulated financial institutions, as well as international initiatives like Insight2Impact, funded by the Mastercard and Gates Foundations.
A frequent keynote speaker and advisor to governments, donors, and multilateral institutions, Dr. Kavaarpuo is a champion for context-aware regulation, data sovereignty, and ethical AI. He believes that the future of Africa’s digital economy depends not only on innovation but on policy environments that protect rights, build trust, and enable inclusive growth.
