OP- ED: On African Innovation - The Importance of Relevance (Part 1)

Map of innovation hubs across Africa. Source: VC4Africa 

If necessity is the mother of invention, then Africa, with its acute necessities should be the motherland of innovation. But this is clearly not the case, at least not as far as innovation is globally defined.

As someone who is passionate about Africa and passionate about innovation, I find myself always seeking to find out about African Innovation. Interestingly, there has been a lot of talk about that in recent times. Organizations like NEPAD the UN and British Council,  High profile publishers like Africa Business, All Africa and Forbes and high profile events, like the World Economic Forum, recently held in Abuja, have given a lot of airtime to Africa and how its development is linked to innovation, and how the creative industries are key to innovation and so on.

Innovation success stories like M-PESA (Great stuff, by the way)  have been frequently touted as examples of how Africa is innovating, and various articles on innovation have documented the  new trend of Africa - innovation hubs springing up across Africa (As of today  there are over ninety tech hubs in Africa.)

CC-Hub in Nigeria is one that I have had the opportunity to interact with on various levels and I can say that something new, fresh and innovative is definitely happening in the African space, particularly within the ICT sector.

It is at this point that I begin to get uncomfortable.

Are You A Creative Entrepreneur? You Should Read This!

Before Nigeria's GDP rebasing, it was hard to tell exactly how much the creative industries have contributed to the country's growth. One thing was clear though, Nigeria's creative industries are almost single-handedly responsible for rebranding the country. Where corruption, advance fee fraud and poor development indices have embarrassed us in the international community, our creative industries have given us reasons to stand proud. From music to fashion to our very own Nollywood, we have something(s) to brag about while we work on fixing the other malfunctioning parts.

Over 50% of Nigeria's economic growth has been attributed to its informal sector of which the creative industries form a major part. Now the government is paying more attention and actively putting structures in place to maximise opportunities this new revelation has presented.

As important as these efforts are, there are other important considerations that will help the creative entrepreneur sustain his/her business. At the center of Nigeria's efforts to stimulate growth within the sector is the concept of intellectual property (IP). IP in Nigeria is still a murky landscape with fluid definitions and poor stakeholder understanding of the subject.

For the creative entrepreneur to thrive, IP needs to take center-stage in discourse, planning and management of creative initiatives and in policy and investment decisions targeted at the sector - IP from a local perspective, one that interprets the legal and business implications of everyday decisions creatives make and takes into consideration the peculiarities of doing business in Africa.

At Adelphi Consulting, we have decided to make this our overarching mission, straddling the intersection between arts, culture, IP law, business and technology.

If you own or manage a record label, a production, publishing outfit or marketing communications agency; if you are an artiste, movie or music producer, actor/actress, inventor or fashion designer; if you license or distribute content, are considering investing in the creative industry or if you're someone who has a unique idea and looking for ways to protect and maximize it, we look forward to hearing from you.

For more info on Adelphi visit:

Website: www.adelphionline.com

Twitter: @Adelphi_IP

Facebook: AdelphiAfrica

Slideshare: Adelphi Consulting 

Send emails to: info@adelphionline.com, blog@adelphionline.com or call us on 234 817 694, 2839

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Welcome To Insights By Adelphi

 

It has been a long time coming but it is finally here.  Our blog we mean :)

Having worked within the intellectual property (IP) and business design space for close to a decade, we experienced firsthand how difficult it is to find practical and timely information on IP especially in Nigeria and even the rest of the continent. While we work with creative industry stakeholders on different projects, we have found the need for an IP and business design platform too great and the gap too wide.

Insights By Adelphi (Our blog) was set up to fully address these concerns and maximize the potential we know is inherent in our creative economy and related sectors. We intend for it to be a one-stop hub for IP and business design related information for Africa’s creative industry stakeholders, media, potential investors and even the academic community.  Below is a summary of what to expect on the blog every week: 

• On Mondays we will publish op-eds addressing a topical issue and share tips to guide your week.
• Every Tuesday we will publish a presentation on Slideshare. Presentations will be practical, easy to read and tailored to issues creative businesses grapple with. 
• We present 101 Series every Wednesday, our practical, how-to blogs targeted at industry rookies, enthusiasts and students. 
• Thursdays every fortnight, we will publish Meet The Experts, an interview with a creative industry expert discussing various issues and their recommendations for addressing them.
• Every weekend expect This Weekend, our blog post on events and activities happening over the weekend.
• Every weekday we will publish the latest jobs within Nigeria’s and Africa’s creative space.

If you have other ideas on content you will like to see on the blog, do not hesitate to reach us via: 

• Twitter: Adelphi_IP 
• Facebook: /AdelphiAfrica 
• Slideshare: AdelphiConsulting 
• Email: blog@adelphionline.com, info@adelphionline.com 
• Website: www.adelphionline.com

Welcome to the beginning of exciting things.

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