Africa IP helpdesk: bridging continents
Ties between European Union (EU) countries and Africa have strengthened in recent years, and the unveiling of an Africa IP helpdesk for European businesses aims to cement them.
The launch of the initiative during October’s EU-African SME Summit 2021 in Rome comes when small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have emerged as the backbone of economies in the EU and Africa. And IP has become central to the future success of Africa-EU trade relations.
The move is a timely one. In 2020, the EU was Africa’s largest trade partner, accounting for 31% of Africa’s exports and 29% of its imports. Meanwhile, most African countries enjoy duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market, and manufactured goods represent 70% of EU exports to Africa.
With the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and its flagship project, the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA), Africa-EU business relations are firmly in the spotlight.
Backed by the European Union and implemented by the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the Africa IP SME Helpdesk will be delivered through the Intellectual Property Rights & Innovation in Africa (AfrIPI) project.
Andrea di Carlo, EUIPO deputy executive director, described the helpdesk as an important milestone for the promotion of IP rights in Africa among EU businesses. “The new IP SME helpdesk will encourage Africa-EU trade by promoting IP and will be valuable not only to EU SMEs, but also to lawyers, and practitioners,” he said.
According to EUIPO, the service will allow EU businesses to find detailed and practical information on African IP matters and address specific questions through an online hub.
Key features of the SME helpdesk
Herman van Schalkwyk, partner at Spoor & Fisher, believes that the helpdesk will help European SMEs tap into the potential that the African continent has to offer.
“Africa offers significant growth opportunities to European organisations and having trusted partners that assist with pan-African IP strategies is key to unlocking growth,” said van Schalkwyk.
The Africa IP SME Helpdesk aims to promote awareness on IP matters in Africa, with detailed information on national IP landscapes, case studies, training materials, and webinars to help SMEs better understand and protect their IP assets in Africa.
It will also support SMEs in creating, protecting, utilising, administering, and enforcing IP rights across Africa, in line with international and European best practices.
In addition, EU SMEs will be able to submit their own enquiries to the helpdesk related to protecting their IP rights in Africa through a dedicated helpline service. IP experts will provide useful advice, respecting confidentiality, within three working days.
Elizabeth Lenjo, founder and managing partner of MYIP Legal Studio in Kenya, also welcomed the development. “As legal practitioners in Africa, sometimes we forget that the EU and other developed regions also have SMEs with SME needs. We look forward to hearing more details from AFRIPI on how African legal firms and practitioners will be incorporated including SME IP legal practitioners,” she said.
But she noted that the helpdesk will need to provide diverse information as perspectives are likely to vary from industry to industry and from country to country across the continent, and that customised information and packaging will be crucial.
Why focus on SMEs?
According to the EUIPO/EPO report “ Intellectual property rights and firm performance in Europe: an economic analysis”, released in February 2021, companies that own at least one patent, registered design or trademark generate on average 20% higher revenues per employee than companies which do not own any of those IP rights.
SMEs represent 99% of all businesses in the EU yet less than 9% of SMEs own IP rights.
Apart from the lack of awareness on IP rights, especially among SMEs, the report found that there is a perception that IP registration procedures are complex and costly. And there is often a concern that the cost of the enforcement of these rights would represent a financial burden to SMEs.
According to a report by Inventa International, businesses are exposed to significant challenges in Africa, including misconceptions regarding the use of IP on the continent.
Many remain unaware that IP offices and authorities have evolved in Africa, enforcement of IP rights has become much more straightforward and that only four languages (English, French, Arabic and Portuguese) are required for translations to cover all the continent.
But challenges do remain. The report notes that many IP offices in Africa require more digitisation and better-trained staff, while many countries and jurisdictions lack IP courts or judges with experience on IP related matters and still need to update to a better version of their IP laws.
There is also a need for better connections between authorities and IP offices to combat counterfeiting in Africa.
The African IP landscape has unique challenges, agreed van Schalkwyk, but he is hopeful that the Africa IP SME helpdesk will hopefully break down some of those barriers that have made Africa less accessible to SMEs. “Hopefully this initiative will offer SMEs the opportunity to use their IP strategically across Africa to the benefit of both continents,” he said.
Benefits to Africa
Lenjo also emphasised that the helpdesk must also present advantages to Africa. “We would also want the execution to benefit both countries and jurisdictions involved; the African and the EU, and we look forward to receiving more information regarding this new venture,” she said.
The EUIPO has insisted that the helpdesk will also prove hugely advantageous to African businesses
“At the heart of our efforts are people, entrepreneurs and business leaders,” noted Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships.
“The EU’s new Africa IP SME helpdesk supports European SMEs with IP rights management across Africa and helps African businesses gain access to global value chains,” she said.
The helpdesk project also aims to support African IP rights policy and its harmonisation, by improving networks, tools, capacity building, and sharing valuable IP practices.
According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), Africa boasts of the world's female entrepreneurship rates (11.3%).
But there’s a downside: low-income countries in Africa also saw the highest rates of business failures among women-owned businesses (10.1% compared to 1.4% in Europe) suggesting that these businesses lack the backing they require to mature.
Uwa Ohiku, senior partner at Jackson, Etti & Edu in Nigeria, believes the helpdesk could potentially help female-run businesses in Africa access this much-needed support.
“Small and female-led businesses face challenges cutting across funding, lack of adequate skills, training schemes, mentorship, harsh and/or inadequate policies and regulations, cultural stereotyping, just to mention a few,” she explains.
“The limited size of many of these businesses means they have difficulty accessing the necessary resources for a more productive and thriving business, including a pool of talented individuals to help drive the business,” she says.
The right support for these businesses can be in the form of educational support programmes on entrepreneurship, and other managerial and leadership capabilities and programmes, that help boost the confidence of such business owners and unlock their potential to grow faster, she added.
The Africa IP SME Helpdesk is part of an international network of helpdesks addressing EU businesses and funded by the EU. Other regional help desks cover Latin America, China, South-East Asia, and India.
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