Innovation in Africa: Levelling the Playing Field to Promote Technology Transfer

Technology is key to the development of nations yet is not freely or easily accessible. This book aims to contribute to the debate about empowering Africa to play a more meaningful role in the global innovation system. It emphasizes the important role of technology transfer in assisting Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Africa to expand their technological capabilities.

The book surveys IP and innovation policies in Africa’s past and present, providing theoretical, policy, and legal frameworks, as well as specific measures that will help African LDCs. It proposes solutions to overcome challenges currently posed by inefficiencies in the flow of technologies to LDCs and by the fragmentation of the international legal framework that regulates technology transfer. Notably, the book proposes maximal implementation of the TRIPS Agreement provisions related to technology transfer and recommends the adoption of a uniform international legal instrument under the framework of the WTO to be designated as the Agreement on Trade-Related Issues of Technology Transfer and Innovation (TRITTI).

The book advocates for proactivity from African LDCs and urges them to cultivate environments that attract and enable technology transfer into their respective states. This will facilitate technological learning, accelerate absorption and adaptation fit to an African context, and will catapult African LDCs down the road of innovation.

Fernando dos Santos, Law Lecturer, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo

Fernando dos Santos is an advisor on IP-related issues in Africa for several organizations, including WIPO, EPO, IFPMA, African Union, and the AfCFTA Secretariat. He has served as Director General of the IP Office of Mozambique and the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO). He is a member of the South African Association of Intellectual Property Law and Information Technology Law Teachers and Researchers (AIPLITL) and the Open-Air Multidisciplinary IP Research Network in Africa. He received a LLM from the University of London and PhD in innovation and intellectual property from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He is a teacher, tutor, and has presented and published widely on Africa and IP-related issues.