Prof. Chijioke Okorie is an Associate Professor in the Department of Private Law at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and a National Research Foundation (NRF) C2-rated researcher whose scholarship examines the intersections of law, innovation, and development in Africa. She is the founder and Principal Investigator of the Data Science Law Lab, where she leads interdisciplinary research that generates evidence-based legal and policy guidance to support the responsible growth of data science across the continent.
She currently serves as Principal Investigator of a CAD 750,000 IDRC-funded Open AIR project, Catalyzing AI’s Potential in Africa through IP Innovation, which explores how intellectual property systems can be leveraged to enable inclusive and context-responsive artificial intelligence development within African innovation ecosystems.
Prof. Okorie led the development of the Nwulite Obodo Open Data License, an innovative licensing framework designed to promote equitable and open sharing of African datasets. She
serves as an Associate Editor of the South African Intellectual Property Law Journal and has authored numerous scholarly publications on intellectual property, competition law, and information justice, with particular attention to African legal and innovation contexts.
Before transitioning fully into academia and policy-focused research, she was a Senior Associate at a leading commercial law firm in Lagos, Nigeria. She also serves as Lead Advisor at Penguide Advisory, where she directs research, training, and legal advisory services in intellectual property and emerging technologies for governments, public agencies, companies, non-profit organisations, and entrepreneurs across Nigeria, the African continent, and internationally.
Prof. Okorie holds a PhD in Intellectual Property and Competition Law from the University of Cape Town, an LLM in Internet Law and Policy from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, and an LLB from Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, Nigeria. She was called to the Bar as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2006.
