The development of Intellectual Property Policies in Africa- some key considerations and a research agenda

This paper considers factors that are relevant to recent efforts to formulate Intellectual Property Policies in Africa following the adoption of the Development Agenda by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). It highlights the need to develop policies tailored for each country’s socio-economic status and the need to use evidence to ensure a rigorous policy approach. It also considers WIPO’s technical assistance may be more effectively used by African states in their policy processes and concludes with a research agenda intended to stimulate critical engagement with these key issues.

In the last decade African states have become more involved in the global Intellectual Property (IP) law system, with their most auspicious moment being the adoption of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)’s Development Agenda (DA) in 2007. Since the adoption of the WIPO DA several projects have been initiated in Africa with a view to enhancing development through appropriately calibrated IP systems. These systems are crafted through legislation thus making IP legislation and the policies that inform it the focal area for analysis of IP systems.