Recognition of Intellectual Property Rights as a Fragment of the Right to Property in 21st Century Africa: A Necessity or a Luxury?

Abstract

All over the world, there has been an upsurge in the different forms of intellectual property (IP) such as expressions of art, inventions, innovations, and industrial property. The owners of these forms of IP are protected under various rights like patents for inventions and copyright for expressions of art. In 2010 alone, China recorded about 600, 000 patents and in 2014, it recorded almost 1.5 million patents. This and similar revelations relating to the rise in the protection of IP have led to different arguments on the relevance of adequate recognition, enforcement, and implementation of intellectual property rights in Africa. This essay, therefore, seeks to answer the question of whether it is necessary or merely an issue of luxury to protect IP in Africa.