Adams Advisory - Africa Update 2020
"Innovation inputs and outputs are still concentrated in very few economies; a global innovation divide persists”. Unfortunately, Africa is still depicted as the poor relation in the whole spectrum of innovation and Intellectual Property uptake. Read Adams & Adams' Advisory Insights into African investment opportunities.
"Innovation inputs and outputs are still concentrated in very few economies; a global innovation divide persists”.
Unfortunately, Africa is still depicted as the poor relation in the whole spectrum of innovation and Intellectual Property uptake.
Read Adams & Adams' Advisory Insights into African investment opportunities.
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Stephen Hollis and Nicky Garnett (<strong>Adams</strong><br />
& <strong>Adams</strong> partners) at the Registry Offices<br />
From left to right: Jacinto Ucuahamba, <strong>Adams</strong> & <strong>Adams</strong> Angola,<br />
Nicky Garnett, Ms Ana Paula Boliva (Registrar) and<br />
Stephen Hollis (extreme right) with senior Registry staff<br />
The visit was extremely useful and has already proved<br />
beneficial as we have seen a number of patents proceeding<br />
to grant. This is a significant step forward as not a single patent<br />
was granted by IAPI in the period 2010-2018. In addition,<br />
there have been definite improvements in the frequency of<br />
publication of patent applications in the months following<br />
our visit and some patents (which has been previously been<br />
overlooked) have now been published paving the way for<br />
these applications to proceed to grant in the near future.<br />
Ms Bolivar has been the Director General of IAPI since 2014<br />
and has embarked on a program of recruiting and training<br />
additional registry staff to improve the ability of the office to<br />
deal with incoming matters as well as the backlog of cases<br />
which she inherited. The publication and issuance of trade<br />
mark certificates and processing of trade mark oppositions<br />
have improved dramatically. That said, there are still delays<br />
in the processing of trade mark recordals in Angola and<br />
patent searches are problematic. Whilst the World Bank<br />
is assisting IAPI with the digitisation of their records, this is<br />
an ongoing project which is subject to severe capacity<br />
constraints.<br />
We are encouraged by the willingness of Ms Bolivar and her<br />
team at IAPI to meet with stakeholders and look forward to<br />
seeing continuous improvements with the handling of our<br />
cases in Angola.<br />
KEY OPPORTUNITIES & CONCERNS<br />
+ Angola remains <strong>Africa</strong>’s second largest oil producer<br />
+ Government is serious about diversifying the economy away from the energy sector, and is opening<br />
investment opportunities<br />
+ Angola is well-positioned to produce entertainment and media content for Portuguese-speaking <strong>Africa</strong><br />
+ By 2050, <strong>Africa</strong> will be home to the world’s largest Portuguese-speaking population, surpassing Brazil<br />
– President João Lourenço’s dismembering of the old dos Santos corruption machine is underway<br />
but is encountering resistance from the country’s corrupt elite<br />
– Urban social services are poor and poverty is widespread in rural areas<br />
– Agriculture employs over eight out of ten workers but contributes little to GDP due to antiquated<br />
practices and a small value added food industry<br />
AFRICA UPDATE <strong>2020</strong> | 13
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