Researchers from the Open African Innovation Research (Open AIR) network have been awarded almost CAD 750,000 for a new three-year research project, Catalyzing AI’s Potential in Africa through Intellectual Property Innovation.
Across Africa, AI strategies at both continental and national levels increasingly recognize the importance of intellectual property (IP). Yet, there remains a critical need for focused research and coordinated policy action on how IP frameworks can support or limit AI innovation. This new AI and IP project integrates IP law and policy into AI governance, positioning IP at the heart of AI governance to advance Africa’s development priorities and agenda.
Through a built-in knowledge-policy feedback loop, the project is producing practical resources such as policy handbooks, regulatory guides, IP strategy toolkits, and reform roadmaps. Researchers are working with policymakers to co-create context-sensitive models for IP governance, including frameworks for data sovereignty, fair licensing, and open innovation.
The project supports the use of AI in IP offices to strengthen administrative efficiency and analyze African AI innovations in health, agriculture, and climate to understand how IP frameworks affect their ability to scale, generate economic value, and deliver societal benefits. The new project also engages strategically with regional and global policy arenas, including the African Union (AU), African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), as well as the G20 and G7. By feeding African perspectives into these influential fora, the project ensures that African innovators and institutions are not only participants but active shapers of global AI and IP governance.
The project is led by Professor Chijioke Okorie at the University of Pretoria (UP), one of Open AIR’s newest project partners and the grant’s administrator. Prof. Tesh Dagne of York University will co-lead the project, working closely with Prof. Caroline Ncube of the University of Cape Town and University of Ottawa professor Jeremy de Beer, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Innovation and Intellectual Property Law. Other Open AIR researchers working on the initiative include Prof. Desmond Oriakhogba (University of the Western Cape), Prof. Bassem Awad (Western University), Prof. Chidi Oguamanam (uOttawa), and numerous other team members.
This award complements Open AIR’s ongoing grant from IDRC on Regulation for Innovation, administered from its Southern African hub at the University of Cape Town (UCT), further strengthening the network’s regional presence and leadership on technology governance. It also enhances the impact of another new flagship project in Open AIR’s research portfolio, the Canada-Africa Partnership on IP for Climate Action, which is addressing the IP-related regulatory barriers that may impede open and collaborative cleantech innovation.
The project is funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) as part of the Artificial Intelligence for Development (AI4D) program, a partnership between IDRC and the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). AI4D supports policy, innovation, and expanded leadership to spur safe and responsible AI in Africa. Its vision is to cultivate an AI ecosystem grounded in inclusivity and rights-based principles, designed to enhance wellbeing across Africa and beyond.
Open AIR is an international network of networks that conducts collaborative research on innovation, IP, knowledge governance, and inclusive and sustainable development. It is anchored by six institutional hubs and founding partners: the University of Cape Town (South Africa), University of Johannesburg (South Africa), Strathmore University(Kenya), the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (Nigeria), the American University in Cairo (Egypt), and a coordinating hub at the University of Ottawa (Canada).
For more information, please contact Open AIR Program Manager Dr. Yvonne Ndelle at openair@uottawa.ca.
