The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat has partnered with the All Africa Intellectual Property Summit, taking place in Nairobi from 11 to 13 November, to promote intellectual property (IP) in trade.
The Accra-based Secretariat announced the partnership in a statement on 25 September. It will bring a continental trade perspective to the summit’s policy and technical sessions, including talks on how to implement the AfCFTA Protocol on Intellectual Property Rights.
The summit comes as Africa’s IP rulebook is close to complete but still missing one piece. In February 2026, the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government adopted eight of the nine annexes to the protocol, which itself was adopted in February 2023. The ninth annex, which would set up the AfCFTA IP Office to administer the system, has not yet been agreed.
The eight adopted annexes cover:
- patents;
- utility models;
- marks;
- industrial designs;
- geographical indications;
- copyright and related rights;
- plant variety protection;
- traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions and genetic resources.
Together, they are meant to narrow the differences in IP rules across African markets. The aim is to help businesses and creators protect and profit from their brands, inventions and creative works as they trade across borders.
AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene said adopting the eight annexes was an important step towards a continental framework for African innovation, creativity and enterprise. He said the priority now was to turn that framework into real opportunities for businesses, innovators and creators.
The seventh edition of the summit will run under the theme “Mainstreaming Intellectual Property for Africa’s Trade, Industrial and Creative Economy Transformation”. It will bring together policymakers, IP offices, businesses, investors and academics. The organisers plan an Innovation Pavilion to connect African inventors and creators with investors. Research submitted through a call for papers will also feed into the discussions.
Summit chairman Sand Mba Kalu said the event would examine how IP can generate real economic value for the continent.
The Secretariat has been pressing the case for IP as a trade tool throughout 2026. At its first Africa IP Day since the annexes were adopted, it recognised six innovators, entrepreneurs and creators from Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda.
The Nairobi summit is expected to end with the adoption of a Nairobi Declaration on Intellectual Property and Africa’s Economic Transformation.
