Africa must strengthen its intellectual property systems to ensure creators, innovators and businesses benefit financially from the ideas and products they develop, organisers of the upcoming 7th All Africa Intellectual Property Summit have said.
Speaking in Nairobi on Wednesday, Summit Organising Committee Chairman Sand Mba-Kalu said Africa produces significant creative and innovative work but continues to capture too little of its economic value.
He said the summit, scheduled for November 11 to 13, 2026, in Nairobi, will focus on linking intellectual property to trade, industrialisation, investment and the creative economy.
“Africa creates enormously, but Africa still captures too little of the economic value of what it creates,” Mba-Kalu said.
The summit will be held under the theme: Mainstreaming Intellectual Property for Africa’s Trade, Industrial and Creative Economy Transformation.
Mba-Kalu said the discussions will seek to move the continent from simply protecting intellectual property to commercialising it and using it to create jobs, attract investment and expand African businesses.
He said the summit will also examine the role of intellectual property in pharmaceutical manufacturing, noting that Africa remains heavily dependent on imported medicines despite having growing manufacturing and research capacity.
Kenya, he said, provides an example of the potential for local industries to expand through stronger links between research, technology transfer, investment, regulation and intellectual property.
The summit will bring together policymakers, intellectual property offices, businesses, investors, researchers, universities, creators and development partners.
Discussions will cover the African Continental Free Trade Area intellectual property framework, artificial intelligence, digital trade, technology transfer, creative industries and intellectual-property financing.
The event will also feature an Africa IP Marketplace and Innovation Pavilion, where businesses and innovators will showcase products, technologies, brands and creative works to potential investors, buyers and licensing partners.
Mba-Kalu said the summit is being organised in partnership with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the Kenya Copyright Board, with the aim of translating continental intellectual property policies into practical opportunities for businesses and creators.
He urged African governments and the private sector to treat intellectual property as part of economic policy rather than a specialist legal issue.
“We must also increase what Africans own within that market,” he said, calling for stronger African brands, greater commercialisation of research and better financing for intangible assets.
The organisers expect the summit to culminate in a Nairobi Declaration outlining practical priorities for strengthening intellectual property and supporting Africa’s economic transformation.