Intellectual Property Rights and Sustainable Development Goals in Africa

This volume provides a technical analysis of intellectual property (IP) rights in Africa, focusing on their intersection with sustainable development. Through case studies, it evaluates IP frameworks in agriculture, public health, innovation financing, and data protection, emphasizing the need for context-sensitive systems tailored to Africa's unique challenges. The research highlights IP's contribution to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including food security, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) empowerment, and gender equality. It addresses critical issues such as AI-generated (Artificial Intelligence) content, traditional knowledge, and access to medicine, advocating for balanced IP protection that stimulates innovation while ensuring equitable development.

• It explores the complex and evolving interface of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and the SDGs, especially SDGs 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 16 from an African perspective.
• Includes chapters having diverse sectoral focus like creative industries, agriculture, finance, AI, and so forth.
• Emphasizes need for localized IP frameworks, capacity development, and policy reform.
• Reiterates a nuanced and balanced IP system tailored to Africa’s socio-economic realities.
• Draws upon case studies from Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon, Morocco, Tanzania, Egypt, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Gambia, and Ghana.

This book is aimed at academics, researchers, legal practitioners, and formulators within the innovation, IP, and sustainable development context.

Desmond Oriakhogba is Associate Professor, Department of Private Law, University of the Western Cape; Adjunct Professor at Strathmore Law School, Strathmore University, Kenya; and Head Tutor: WIPO Academy’s distance learning program (advanced course on IP and traditional knowledge). He earned his PhD from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and LLM and LLB from University of Benin.

Charlene Tsitsi Musiza is Postdoctoral Research Fellow,Commercial Law Department, University of Cape Town. She obtained her PhD and LLM from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and LLB from the University of Zimbabwe. She is a Queen Elizabeth Scholar – Advanced Scholar (QES-AS) and New and Emerging Researcher (OpenAIR).

Sand Mba-Kalu is Founder of the International Trade & Research Centre (ITRC) and an International Trade Expert. He serves as Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the All Africa Intellectual Property Summit and has extensive expertise in Business Development, Consultancy, Research, and Policy design across Africa. Currently a PhD student at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Sand's research focuses on Policy development and practice.