AFRICA’S economies are entering a new era — one where knowledge, creativity and innovation may prove more valuable than oil, copper or gold.
As the continent accelerates its digital transformation, intellectual property is fast emerging as Africa’s next great export: a tradable asset class that can generate wealth, attract investment, and reshape its global economic identity.
For decades, Africa’s fortunes were tied to physical commodities.
Yet as global markets shift towards technology, services and creative industries, the continent’s true comparative advantage may no longer lie beneath its soil but within its people.
Across Lagos, Nairobi, Kigali, and Cape Town, a generation of innovators is building intellectual capital — code, design, music, film, fintech solutions and AI models — that has international market value.
Africa’s intellectual property is already driving new export industries.
Nigeria’s Nollywood generates over US$7 billion annually, Kenya’s fintechs are exporting payment innovations to Asia and South Africa’s software engineers are powering global start-ups.
The challenge is not one of creativity, but of commercialisation: turning intellectual output into bankable, legally protected and globally traded assets.
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The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) estimates that robust intellectual property regimes can increase foreign direct investment by up to 40%.
Yet most African countries remain under-protected.
Many businesses still operate informally, without registering trademarks or patents.
The result is that billions in potential value — from agricultural innovations to digital platforms — remain unclaimed, unmonetised and often copied abroad.
Governments are beginning to act.
Rwanda, Ghana and Kenya have launched new intellectual property and copyright policies aligned with their digital economy strategies.
South Africa is reforming its patent and design legislation to bring it in line with international standards, while Nigeria’s new Copyright Act explicitly covers digital works and streaming platforms.
These measures aim to protect innovation, attract investors and create a trusted environment for technology transfer.
For investors, intellectual property protection is not simply a legal issue — it is a financial one.
A clear intellectual property framework de-risks innovation financing, enabling venture capital and banks to value intangible assets such as algorithms, trademarks or data rights as collateral.
In this sense, Africa intellectual property is moving closer to being treated like capital — an income-producing asset that can be leveraged on to access funding.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is playing a critical role in shaping this shift.
Its protocol on digital trade, finalised in 2024, creates a continental framework for data protection, e-commerce, and digital rights — effectively making IP a pillar of Africa’s single market.
By harmonising rules across 54 countries, AfCFTA enables creators and companies to operate regionally, without facing 50 different copyright regimes.
This is vital for sectors such as software, media and design, where cross-border licensing is essential. It also lays the groundwork for regional intellectual property exchanges, where African patents, royalties and creative rights could be traded or securitised, similar to commodities in financial markets.
Moreover, AfCFTA’s digital trade policy aligns with global ESG and sustainable-development priorities.
Intellectual property, when embedded within fair governance systems, promotes inclusive growth by rewarding creativity, stimulating youth employment and reducing dependency on raw material exports.
A growing number of fintech firms are exploring the tokenisation of intellectual property rights — converting songs, patents or trademarks to digital assets that can be traded or fractionalised.
Eric Gacuruzwa
