Inventions and patenting in Africa: Empirical trends from 1970 to 2010

Abstract

Economic development is increasingly dependent upon on utilizing new knowledge to innovate and create value, even in traditional industries and in low‐income countries. This analysis uses evidence on patent families to assess innovation activity throughout sub‐Saharan Africa. We find patent activity in sub‐Saharan Africa—both by African inventors and by foreign inventors—is comparable to similar regions around the world, when conditioned on economic size. Patent filings in Africa have grown, particularly, since the mid‐1990s, but at different rates within different African jurisdictions. Types of technologies being patented in Africa have remained stable over 30 years, with most in pharmaceuticals, chemistry, biotechnology, and engineering. The majority of patent filings in Africa are from Europe, the United States, and other high income countries. Yet, in South Africa, between 15% and 20% of patent filings are by residents of South Africa, and 3% are from other developing and emerging economies. Only a small share of inventions globally are made in sub‐Saharan Africa, but for those inventions that do arise in Africa, foreign filings are made widely outside of Africa.

The role of intellectual property rights on access to medicines in the WHO African region: 25 years after the TRIPS agreement

“…Data shows that there was a sharp increase in patent applications at both offices from 1994 to 1999, which started to decline in the period 1999-2000. This trend matches that reported in a study on inventions and patenting in Africa [14]. The observed increase in patent applications in the late-1990s may have been caused by developments in molecular biology, genetics and genomics and their application in the biopharmaceutical sector.…”

“…Within the framework of the WHO-WIPO-WTO trilateral cooperation, the 3 agencies work collaboratively to each fulfill their respective mandates without duplicating efforts and within existing resource constraints. By virtue of the 1995 Agreement 13 between WIPO and WTO, and recommendations 14 of the WIPO Development Agenda (2007), WIPO plays an important role in providing developing countries with technical assistance to implement the TRIPS Agreement. Recommendation 1 states that "WIPO technical assistance shall be developmentoriented, demand-driven and transparent, taking into account the priorities and the special needs of developing countries, especially LDCs".…”

“…The findings of the study provide a baseline for WHO's work towards the implementation of the Health Assembly's decision WHA 71(8) and resolution WHA72.8 mentioned above. 11 CIPIH Report (WHO, 2006) 12 Through resolution WHA62.16 13 Article 4 (1) 14 Cluster A on Technical Assistance and Capacity Building 15 https://www.wipo.int/directory/en/ 16 Algeria, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principle, Seychelles, Sierra Leone and Uganda. 17 WIPO technical assistance may also be in the form of support to attend meetings, workshops and/or training and also for buying equipment.…”

The Role of Intellectual Property Rights on Access to Medicines in the WHO African Region: 25 Years After the TRIPS Agreement

“…Data shows that there was a sharp increase in patent applications at both o ces from 1994 to 1999, which started to decline in the period 1999 -2000. This trend matches that reported in a study on inventions and patenting in Africa [42]. The observed increase in patent applications in the late-1990s may have been caused by developments in molecular biology, genetics and genomics and their application in the biopharmaceutical sector [43].…”

20 years of African Neuroscience: Waking a sleeping giant

“…The reasons for this are diverse, and include low funding 1 , inadequate research infrastructure 7 , the relatively small number of active scientists 8 , and their overbearing administrative and teaching load 9,10 . These barriers limit research and innovations from Africa 11 , and contribute to brain drain 12 .…”