Africa: open for business

Africa represents perhaps the most challenging region in the world when it comes to IP protection—especially for non-African applicants unaware of the peculiarities of the continent.

A lack of electronic services (most IP offices in Africa still use paper over digital records), longer pendency rates and waiting times (due to that extra paperwork), a dearth of IP experts, and non-specialised courts all translate into potential issues for protection, enforcement and prosecution for a rights owner.

When the inherent cultural and language barriers between the continent’s jurisdictions are added to this mix, the risks for non-Africans doing business there are obvious.

Anyone with knowledge “on the ground” becomes a valuable asset. Daniel Reis Nobre is one such person. As managing partner of the Africa IP practice at Inventa International, Reis Nobre is used to educating clients about the region’s IP quirks.

He’s also used to people referring to the second largest continent as a single country or thinking that South Africa is, basically, Africa.

“Here resides a very wrong idea that some people from all around the world still have about Africa,” Reis Nobre says.

“There are many differences between the countries. Cultural, historical and language differences, consumer habits and political or religious influences differ from country to country.”

In terms of business in general, South Africa is still the “business hub” for the continent, Reis Nobre admits. But it’s gradually changing and each year, more individual countries in Africa are doing business internationally, not through South African regional partnerships.

Each jurisdiction has its own IP rules, Reis Nobre explains. Some are based on old European laws, so local knowledge is “very important”.