On the 9th of December 2016, African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) celebrated 40 years in existence. As many may know, ARIPO is an Intergovernmental Organization established under the Lusaka Agreement on 9 December 1976 to pool resources of its African Member States in Intellectual Property (IP) and establishes common services and co-ordination of laws and activities in IP matters. One of the highlights of the celebrations was the launch of inaugural issue of the African Journal of Intellectual Property (AJIP), a collaborative project with the Africa University’s Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance (IPLG).

According to the AJIP editorial team, this scholarly, peer reviewed journal was established in response to the tremendous growth of the intellectual property field over the last decade in Africa. AJIP aims to promote African intellectual property scholarship and research, facilitate the documentation and accessibility of research outcomes to strengthen evidence – based developments and improve learning in and across service delivery intellectual property organisations, academic and research institutions and industry. AJIP therefore aims to advance the creation of synergies between the actors in the intellectual property eco-system. A special goal of AJIP is to fill the gap in existing academic journals by encouraging research from multidisciplinary perspectives including law, science, agriculture, business, social sciences, the arts and other fields.
Along with yours truly, the other contributing authors in the inaugural issue of AJIP are:
Dr. Reem Raslan – Cairo University, Egypt
Prof. Olugbenga Ajani Olatunji – University of Ilorin, Nigeria
Mr. Kayode Ibrahim Adam – University of Ilorin, Nigeria
Mr. Jacob Holland – Xiamen University, China
Ms. Glenda Mutasa – Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Office
Mr. Emmanuel Sackey – ARIPO
Mr. Mornicliff Mudzvatangi – Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Office
The contributing reviewers of the inaugural issue of AJIP were:
Mrs. Dora Makwinja – Copyright Society of Malawi
Prof. Anthony Kakooza – SIPI Law Associates, Uganda
Dr. Edwini Kessie – OCTA, Vanuatu
Mrs. Brenda Kahari – BW Kahari Legal Practitioners, Zimbabwe
Mr. Desmond Oriakhogba – University of Benin, Nigeria
Prof. Amos Saurombe – University of South Africa
Dr. Marisella Ouma – Kenya Copyright Board
Dr. Tshimanga Kongolo – WIPO, Switzerland
Prof. Maponga – University of Zimbabwe
Prof. Tom Ogada – Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment, Kenya
This blogger is excited to have published his first peer-reviewed journal article in the newly launched AJIP. The article is titled “Rethinking the Regulation of Collective Management Organisations in Africa: Legislative Lessons from Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria” and it is available for download here.