By JAMES KUNDA –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has implored Africa to invest in intellectual property systems for the protection of innovations of the continent’s indigenous people.
President Lungu said investing in intellectual property systems will provide incentives and effective protection for Africans with new ideas.
Mr Lungu said this in a speech read on his behalf by Vice President Inonge Wina at the official opening of the 15th session of the council of Ministers of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) meeting in Lusaka yesterday.
He said innovation could not be done away with because it was the key driver of economic development in the current day and age.
“I cannot agree more with Peter Drucker who said, ‘innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship, the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth’. We must therefore emulate developed countries which consciously invest in their intellectual property systems to provide incentives and effective protection for those who develop ideas,” he said.
He said it was imperative that African governments developed and expanded their scientific and technological infrastructure while cultivating a spirit of innovation in the people.
The President said at national level, Government had taken various steps to strengthen intellectual property systems through the review of the legal framework.
Five Bills would in this regard be presented to Parliament next year to consolidate the law regarding traditional folklore, patents, trademarks, integrated circuits and industrial designs.
“These Bills will be an important step in Zambia’s efforts to domesticate various international agreements, the country has ratified so far. More importantly, they represent the value that we, as a nation, are placing on innovation and creativity of our people,” he said.
ARIPO administrative council chairperson Anthony Bwembya said innovation was key to the country’s agenda of becoming a smart Zambia.
Mr Bwembya, who is also Patents and companies Registration Agency (PARCRA) registrar and chief executive officer, said the organisation would lead the way in ensuring innovations of people, particularly the youth, were secured.
The 15th ARIPO council of Ministers was held after the 39th session of the organisation’s administrative council and ministerial meeting, where Mr Bwembya took over the reigns from Ugandan Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Kahinda Otafire.
Commerce Minister Margret Mwanakatwe was also elected chairperson of the ARIPO council of Ministers.
ARIPO was founded in 1976 in Lusaka and draws membership from 19 countries in East, West and Southern Africa.
Apart from Zambia, other members include; Burundi, Swaziland, Tanzania, Malawi, Namibia, Sudan, Lesotho, Swaziland and Liberia.
Others are Rwanda, Kenya, Namibia, Gambia, Mozambique, Angola, Uganda, Ghana and São Tomé and Príncipe.