Cognitive Extraction and the Neuro-Chilimba Framework: An Indigenous ROSCA-Based Governance Architecture for Neural Data in Zambia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51137/wrp.ijarbm.640Keywords:
Neural Data Governance, Cognitive Extraction, Neuro-Chilimba Framework, Ubuntu Philosophy, Indigenous Data SovereigntyAbstract
Consumer neurotechnology devices are proliferating into Sub-Saharan African markets, creating conditions for systematic cognitive extraction. The harvesting of communal neural data under legal regimes designed for individual, not collective, data subjects. Zambia's Data Protection Act 2021 and Cyber Security Act 2025 (Act No. 3 of 2025) contain three structural deficits: Absent communal consent authority, absent neural-data classification, and absent benefit-sharing obligations. This conceptual paper develops the Neuro-Chilimba Framework (NCF), an indigenous governance architecture for communal neural data derived from Zambian Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (Chilimba/ROSCAs) and grounded in Ubuntu relational ontology. Employing the novel institutional analogue method, systematic extraction and digital protocolisation of governance mechanisms from culturally legitimate indigenous institutions, the study conducts systematic literature review (1960–2025) across 247 sources, thematic coding of 14 seminal ROSCA ethnographies, doctrinal legal analysis, and CARE-based regulatory gap evaluation. The NCF operationalises seven ROSCA mechanisms into four dimensions: Entry Protocols (Human Firewall), Collective Control (Community Consent Board with 60–75% consent thresholds), Rotational Benefit (minimum 20% Cognitive Dividend), and Relational Justice (Ubuntu-grounded dispute resolution). Three legislative amendments and a Social License to Operate certification pathway are provided. This is the first framework integrating ROSCA ethnography, Ubuntu philosophy, decolonial AI, and Ostrom's common-pool resource principles into a testable, legally actionable neural-data governance architecture. All quantitative thresholds are provisional design parameters requiring participatory calibration.
References
African Union. (2022). The African Union data policy framework. https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/41549-doc-Data-Policy-Framework-Final-EN.pdf
Ardener, S. (1964). The comparative study of rotating credit associations. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 94(2), 201–229. https://doi.org/10.2307/2844382
BCC Research. (2022). Neurotech devices: Global market outlook. BCC Research. https://www.bccresearch.com/market-research/information-technology/neurotech-devices-market.html
Bernal, S. L., Celdrán, A. H., Pérez, G. M., Barros, M. T., & Balasubramaniam, S. (2021). Security and privacy in brain-computer interfaces: A survey. ACM Computing Surveys, 54(5), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1145/3450501
Besley, T., Coate, S., & Loury, G. (1993). The economics of rotating savings and credit associations. American Economic Review, 83(4), 792–810. https://doi.org/10.2307/2117552
Birhane, A. (2021). Algorithmic injustice: A relational ethics approach. Patterns, 2(2), 100205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2021.100205
Boutilier, R. G., & Thomson, I. (2011). Modelling and measuring the social licence to operate. Social Licence. https://socialicense.com/publications/Modelling%20and%20Measuring%20the%20SLO.pdf
Bouman, F. J. A. (1995). Rotating and accumulating savings and credit associations: A development perspective. World Development, 23(3), 371–384. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(94)00141-K
California Legislative Information. (2024). SB-1223: The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018: Sensitive personal information. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1223
Cantwell, M., Schumer, C. E., & Markey, E. J. (2024). S.2925 – MIND Act. 118th Congress (2023–2024). https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/2925
Carroll, S. R., Garba, I., Figueroa-Rodríguez, O. L., Holbrook, J., Lovett, R., Materechera, S., … & Hudson, M. (2020). The CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance. Data Science Journal, 19(1), 43. https://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2020-043
Chappell, L., & Waylen, G. (2013). Gender and the hidden life of institutions. Public Administration, 91(3), 599–615. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2012.02104.x
Chilisa, B. (2019). Indigenous research methodologies (2nd ed.). Sage.
Colorado General Assembly. (2024). HB24-1058: Concerning the protection of biological data. https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb24-1058
Cornejo-Plaza, M. I., López-Silva, P., & López, V. (2024). The journey of neurorights in Chile: A critical perspective. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 18, 1352519. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1352519
Couldry, N., & Mejias, U. A. (2019). The costs of connection: How data is colonizing human life and appropriating it for capitalism. Stanford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503609754
DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147–160. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101
EDPS. (2024). TechDispatch #1/2024: Neurotechnology. European Data Protection Supervisor. https://edps.europa.eu/data-protection/our-work/publications/techdispatch/techdispatch-12024-neurotechnology_en
Eke, D. O. (2024). Ethics and governance of neurotechnology in Africa: Lessons from AI. JMIR Neurotechnology, 3, e56665. https://doi.org/10.2196/56665
Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Pitman.
Geertz, C. (1962). The rotating credit association: A "middle rung" in development. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 10(3), 241–263. https://doi.org/10.1086/449960
GSMA. (2024). The mobile economy Sub-Saharan Africa 2024. GSMA Intelligence. https://www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/sub-saharan-africa/
GSMA. (2025). State of the industry report on mobile money. GSMA. https://www.gsma.com/sotir/
Ienca, M., & Andorno, R. (2017). Towards new human rights in the age of neuroscience and neurotechnology. Life Sciences, Society and Policy, 13(1), 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40504-017-0050-1
Jaakkola, E. (2020). Designing conceptual articles: Four approaches. AMS Review, 10, 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13162-020-00161-0
Kwet, M. (2019). Digital colonialism: US empire and the new imperialism in the Global South. Race & Class, 60(4), 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306396818823172
Mackay, F. (2014). Nested newness, institutional innovation, and the gendered limits of change. Politics & Gender, 10(4), 549–571. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X14000455
Mhlambi, S. (2020). From rationality to relationality: Ubuntu as an ethical and human rights framework for artificial intelligence governance. Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School. https://carrcenter.hks.harvard.edu/publications/rationality-relationality-ubuntu-ethical-and-human-rights-framework-artificial
Mohamed, S., Png, M.-T., & Isaac, W. (2020). Decolonial AI: Decolonial theory as sociotechnical foresight in artificial intelligence. Philosophy & Technology, 33(4), 659–684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-020-00405-8
Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J. (2013). Coloniality of power in postcolonial Africa: Myths of decolonization. CODESRIA.
Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511807763
Parliament of Zambia. (2021). The Data Protection Act No. 3 of 2021. https://www.parliament.gov.zm/sites/default/files/documents/acts/Act%20No.%203%20The%20Data%20Protection%20Act%202021_0.pdf
Platteau, J. P. (1997). Mutual insurance as an elusive concept in traditional rural communities. Journal of Development Studies, 33(6), 764–796. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220389708422498
Ramose, M. B. (1999). African philosophy through Ubuntu. Mond Books.
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. (2011). Nagoya Protocol on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization to the convention on biological diversity. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. https://www.cbd.int/abs/doc/protocol/nagoya-protocol-en.pdf
Scott, W. R. (2014). Institutions and organizations: Ideas, interests and identities (4th ed.). Sage.
UNESCO. (2023). Recommendation on the ethics of neurotechnology. Adopted by the General Conference at its 42nd session, November 2023. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000387361
Van den Brink, R., & Chavas, J. P. (1997). The microeconomics of an indigenous African institution: The rotating savings and credit association. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 45(4), 745–772. https://doi.org/10.1086/452303
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). Sage.
Yuste, R., Genser, J., & Herrmann, S. (2021). It's time for neuro-rights. Horizons, 18, 154–164. https://doi.org/10.26687/archiver.v18i0.677
ZambiaLII. (2025). Cyber Security Act No. 3 of 2025. https://zambialii.org/akn/zm/act/2025/3/eng@2025-04-15
Zuboff, S. (2019). The age of surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. PublicAffairs. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjnrqsk
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Edward Musole (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
