Science, Technology & Innovation and Intellectual Property: Leveraging Openness for Sustainable Development in Africa considers how the openness paradigm could empower Africa to leverage science, technology & innovation (STI) and intellectual property (IP) legislative and policy frameworks to support sustainable development. Specifically, it draws attention to how alignment of national policies with continental priorities and global aspirations will further Africa’s development. 

The book highlights how knowledge governance systems interface with national systems of innovation and impact development by arguing that open science can be used to meet new challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the grand developmental challenges of food security, disease and climate change. It emphasises the need to synchronise national development plans, STI and IP policies with the AU’s Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals, and it makes a case for how the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) IP Protocol may be used as a policy blueprint to guide AU member states in meaningfully nuancing their IP systems to support STI. 

It will be of particular interest to researchers, practitioners and policymakers working in the areas of IP law, STI, sustainable development, regional trade and cross-border business. Those with a focus on current regional integration in Africa and the latest developments regarding AfCFTA will benefit immensely from the book’s discussion of the IP Protocol and the form it ought to take.

Published by Juta in association with the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI)/National Research Foundation (NRF) SARChI Research Chair in Intellectual Property, Innovation and Development.Published by Juta in association with the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI)/National Research Foundation (NRF) SARChI Research Chair in Intellectual Property, Innovation and Development.

• Chapter 1: The Continental Framework for Sustainable Development
• Chapter 2: Intellectual Property: Global Framework
• Chapter 3: Intellectual Property: African Frameworks
• Chapter 4: Science, Technology And Innovation and Sustainable Development
• Chapter 5: Leveraging Openness to Meet the Challenges of Our Time
• Chapter 6: Continental IP Instruments And Institutions
• Bibliography
• Index

• Correctional practitioners, students, academics and researchers in South Africa and other African countries.