INTA Promotes Value of IP in Sub-Saharan Africa

INTA began 2025 with an ambitious goal for advancing the conversation around intellectual property (IP) in Sub-Saharan Africa: to amplify the value of IP for brands, businesses, and consumers while building stronger connections between Africa’s IP stakeholders and the global IP community. The Association took several significant steps towards achieving this goal during the first half of the year:

Engaging Policymakers and Diplomats

This year marked INTA’s first-ever “IP Roundtable for Trade and Investment Counsellors from African Embassies and Missions in Europe.” The aim of this event was to foster collaboration between diplomats based in Europe and key stakeholders involved in the development of IP in Africa by addressing critical IP challenges and identifying opportunities for joint initiatives to strengthen IP systems in Africa in order to fuel trade, investment, and innovation.

In Kenya, the Association also held an inaugural meeting with the Parliamentary Trademark and IP Caucus—a milestone in INTA’s legislative engagement strategy aimed at strengthening IP policy. The Parliamentary Caucus on Trademark and Intellectual Property in Kenya is INTA’s second such caucus globally.

Capacity Building Across the Continent

A slate of technical sessions continued with the Workshop on the Developments of the Trademark Classification System for the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), bringing together trademark examiners and agents to explore classification tools, challenges, and emerging trends related to trademark classification.

Later this year, the Association will host a Trademark Examiners Workshop for the Ghana Intellectual Property Office, an Industrial Designs Workshop in Nigeria, and another OAPI workshop focused on developments in the promotion and protection systems of IP.

Advocacy Through Events and Partnerships

In Kenya, INTA’s educational roundtable on the use of IP as collateral in financing brought together financial institutions, IP experts, registries, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to explore how intangible assets can be used to unlock new sources of credit. This initiative formed the first part of the Association’s ongoing effort to highlight the economic potential of intangible assets. Plans are already underway for the second and third part of this series focusing on Nigeria and South Africa.

Taking IP to the global stage, INTA participated in the World Chamber Federation Africa Summit 2025, contributing to a panel called “Opportunities for African Entrepreneurs—Innovative Solutions for Young Entrepreneurs to Tap into New Markets.”

INTA also joined the Anti-Counterfeit Authority of Kenya in celebrating World Anticounterfeit Day—an event highlighted by a visit from WIPO Director General Daren Tang—underscoring INTA’s commitment to brand protection and anticounterfeiting efforts in Africa.

In July, INTA hosted an IP Forum for In-House Counsel in Kenya—the first of its kind in the region. This event brought together in-house counsel from various industries and explored some of the most pressing issues in the corporate IP space, including how to communicate the value of IP to senior leadership, how to navigate tech-driven IP risks in an era when innovation is moving faster than most approval processes, and which IP litigation enforcement trends every brand should be watching. INTA is currently organizing similar forums across Sub-Saharan Africa to provide legal teams a platform to share strategies and communicate the importance of IP as a business asset.

Building Inclusion and Supporting Creatives Industries

On World Intellectual Property Day, INTA hosted a workshop titled “IP and the Music Industry: A Legal and Business Overview,” empowering artists and rights holders to understand how to protect and monetize their work.

The Association  also hosted a Virtual Pro Bono Africa Legal Clinic, providing free legal support to applicants across the region. The clinic focused on helping participants navigate the trademark registration process, resolve trademark conflicts, and overcome refusals from trademark offices.

At the 2025 Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, the session Celebrating Women in the African IP Sector: Progress and the Path Forward honored the growing leadership of women in IP. This powerful discussion brought visibility to the experiences of African women IP professionals and women entrepreneurs while inspiring next steps for gender equity in the IP space.

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, INTA remains committed to keeping the momentum going by deepening engagement with the African IP community, expanding reach, and continuing to curate conversations that highlight the importance of IP as a tool for growth and transformation.

INTA Consultant Hazel Okoth supports the Association’s members across Africa in collaboration with the staff at INTA’s headquarters in New York, New York, USA, and Representative Offices around the world. Ms. Okoth works on the Association’s policy, membership, marketing, and communications initiatives in Africa. Please contact Ms. Okoth to learn more about INTA’s activities in Africa.

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of this article, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest. 

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