By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
The National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI) has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening Africa’s innovation economy through strategic partnerships, knowledge exchange and stronger intellectual property (IP) systems.
The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of NBTI, Dr Kazeem Kolawole Raji, stated this during an engagement with Mr Sand Mba Kalu and his partner from the Africa Intellectual Property Summit, where both sides explored areas of collaboration to strengthen the continent’s intellectual property ecosystem.
The engagement, which focused on protecting, developing and commercialising intellectual assets, also examined opportunities for deeper cooperation between NBTI and the summit in supporting innovators and technology-driven enterprises across Africa.
Now in its sixth edition, the Africa Intellectual Property Summit has developed into a pan-African platform that brings together governments, innovators, investors, knowledge institutions and other stakeholders to promote the protection and commercialisation of intellectual assets.
Raji stressed that African ideas must move beyond creation to protection, development, commercialisation and large-scale deployment, noting that effective IP systems were essential to converting intellectual assets into economic value.
He said stronger intellectual property protection would help innovators attract investment, create jobs, improve competitiveness and position African businesses to compete more effectively in the global marketplace.
According to him, IP protection remained a critical component of the innovation-to-market process, particularly as NBTI seeks to create an enabling environment where research, creativity and technology can translate into commercially viable products and sustainable enterprises.
He added that strategic partnerships and stronger support mechanisms for innovators would further accelerate technology commercialisation and broaden the economic impact of innovation across the continent.
The engagement further underscored the shared commitment of NBTI and the Africa Intellectual Property Summit to building an innovation ecosystem in which African intellectual assets are adequately protected and transformed into sustainable economic opportunities.
NBTI said it would continue to pursue partnerships capable of strengthening Africa’s innovation ecosystem, accelerating technology commercialisation and ensuring that African ideas and intellectual assets contribute meaningfully to the continent’s sustainable economic transformation.
