The World Intellectual Property Organisation,
(WIPO), in association with African Regional Intellectual PropertyOrganisation, (ARIPO), hosted the Regional Workshop on Intellectual Property
and Product Branding for Business Development in Africa in Lusaka, Zambia,
between 26th – 27th November. The workshop, which attracted participants from
all 19 ARIPO member states was opened the Acting Secretary for Justice, Legal
and Parliamentary Affairs of the Republic of Zimbabwe, F. Gabi.
In his opening speech, quoted by ARIPO website,
F. Gabi appreciated WIPO and ARIPO for committing time to share knowledge and
understanding about the benefits of using branding to market African IP in
Africa and beyond.
Gabi is quoted saying the African continent is rich in resources of any
kind, including genetic resources, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions
and many more, all of which needs IP protection and a proper business strategy
on how to market the goods and services.
The Director, Industrial Property, Christopher
Kiige, welcomed the participants to Harare and thanked the Director General of
WIPO for facilitating not only this workshop but also other programmes in
Africa including the MIP, IP Offices Infrastructure Development Programme
through IPAS and others.
Kiige also thanked the very knowledgeable and
high calibre resources persons for making time to come and share their
knowledge and experiences. He hoped that the MIP students will use the
knowledge obtained during the workshop in their daily work for the benefit of
the ARIPO Member States and Africa at large.
The representative of WIPO, Joyce Banya said in
the knowledge based economy of the world today the importance of IP and
innovation is globally acknowledged. African leaders in the AU Agenda 2063
identified Science, Technology and Innovation as crucial elements for the
transformation of African Economies.
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