The Role of Regulatory Technology in Modern Governance
In the midst of a significant dispute over the Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA) Compliance Monitoring and Revenue Assurance (CMRA) system, which has been criticized as a potential “spy” tool, discussions with Global Voice Group (GVG) Communications Manager, Susana G. Hiernaux, have shed light on the company’s operations, ethical standards, and the concerns surrounding its technology.
The government is strongly opposed to the 2020 decision by the former LCA Chief Executive Officer Mamarame Matela to award the tender to GVG, and has since escalated the case to the Court of Appeal to have the contract nullified. GVG refutes allegations that the CMRA system enables mass surveillance, insisting it merely enhances regulatory compliance and revenue collection.
Exclusive Focus on Government Institutions
GVG works exclusively with governments and regulators because our solutions address compliance, taxation, and governance challenges that only regulators are mandated to oversee. Our systems are designed to help states capture revenue, ensure fair competition, and protect consumers. While we do not sell to civil society or private companies, the ultimate beneficiaries of our work are citizens — because better oversight ensures that more public resources are available for healthcare, education, and infrastructure.
Our exclusive focus on public institutions is what guarantees our independence. For over 25 years, we’ve worked with regulators, ministries, and agencies across diverse contexts, always avoiding conflicts of interest with the private sector. By doing so, we preserve trust, strengthen institutions, and ensure our solutions serve citizens through transparency and accountability.
Safeguards Against Misuse
When we say we see things from a government’s point of view, we only mean that we understand their regulatory and fiscal mandate, not their political agenda. Before engaging, we carefully assess the project scope to ensure it is limited to compliance and regulatory oversight. GVG’s solutions do not enable governments to monitor private citizens, political activities, or journalists. Safeguards are built into our systems so that data is anonymized, aggregated, and relevant only for regulatory purposes.
Integrity is at the heart of our operations. We strictly adhere to the data privacy laws of every country in which we operate, and we reinforce this commitment through internationally recognized standards such as ISO 27001. This certification ensures that our internal systems are designed to protect data confidentiality, integrity, and availability, and that we operate with the highest level of security and ethical responsibility.
Addressing Concerns About Surveillance
We understand the concerns raised by human rights organizations and academic studies regarding the potential misuse of RegTech and GovTech solutions. At GVG, we take these issues seriously and have built both our mission and operational model around the principles of integrity, transparency, and accountability.
Our contracts clearly define the intended purpose of each platform we deploy. We work exclusively with government institutions and regulatory bodies, and the vast majority of the projects we support in Africa are launched through public tenders and funded by reputable international entities such as the World Bank and the United Nations. These frameworks provide an additional layer of oversight and help ensure that technologies are used in alignment with the public interest and international standards.
Transparency and Ethical Obligations
At GVG, we provide every possible safeguard to ensure our tools are used responsibly and ethically. If a system were ever misused to commit a crime — such as a human rights violation — that would fall under the jurisdiction of legal authorities which is beyond our control. What we can affirm with confidence is that, in over 25 years of global operations, GVG has never received a complaint of that nature, nor have we ever encountered any evidence suggesting that our solutions have been used for unlawful purposes after deployment.
Revenue assurance is about ensuring governments collect the taxes and fees legally due from operators, not about monitoring private communications. Our systems focus only on transaction volumes, operator declarations, and financial flows — never the content of communications.
Mobile Money Monitoring Platform
For mobile money, our M3 platform tracks parameters such as transaction volumes, values, and settlement consistency. It does not give visibility into individual account holders’ identities for political targeting. The objective is to fight fraud, money laundering, and to safeguard financial inclusion.
Future Vision for Government-Provided Technology
As a leader in the “reg-tech” industry, we believe in the vision of future government-provided technology that supports digital transformation without leading to digital repression. Technology is transforming our daily lives at an unprecedented pace, and regulation is struggling to keep up. Historically, regulation has always followed innovation, but today the gap is widening. We’re witnessing this in real time with artificial intelligence: even in highly developed countries, establishing a regulatory framework that protects users without stifling progress has become a major challenge.
RegTech plays a critical role in this context. We’re not just observers, we’re at the centre of the storm. RegTech provides governments with the tools to respond quickly, transparently, and responsibly to technological change.
At GVG, we see this moment as a turning point. Our mission is to support public institutions in building secure, inclusive, and sustainable digital ecosystems. That means designing systems that are not only technically robust but also aligned with responsible practices. Just as digital transformation is inevitable, so is the need for smart regulation, and RegTech is the bridge between the two.
