A researcher at the University of Pretoria (UP) has been awarded a R9,6-million (CA$740 300) grant to explore how intellectual property (IP) law and policy can be harnessed to support inclusive, sustainable and development-driven AI innovation across Africa.
Professor Chijioke Okorie from the Faculty of Law at UP was awarded the grant by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to lead a three-year research project titled “Catalyzing AI’s potential in Africa through intellectual property innovation”.
The project is part of the Artificial Intelligence for Development program, a partnership between IDRC and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
While many AI policy debates now acknowledge the importance of IP frameworks, the role of such frameworks is often peripheral and poorly understood – especially in African contexts. This project aims to shift that narrative
through targeted research, engagement and policy interventions designed to position IP as a central factor in enabling AI to meet Africa’s development objectives.
“African AI innovators are doing remarkable work, but they often operate within legal and policy environments that were never designed with AI in mind,” says Prof Okorie, who is the principal investigator and leader of the Data Science Law Lab at UP.
“This project is about asking hard questions and offering real solutions: How do we ensure that intellectual property laws empower – rather than exclude – African innovators? How do we strike a balance between openness and protection? And what IP tools are needed to scale responsible, inclusive AI systems on the continent?”
By examining the role of IP across law-making, business models and community-based innovation, this project will generate policy-relevant insights, including handbooks, reform guides and IP toolkits. Other aims include proposing governance models and policy recommendations to advance data governance through IP reform.
The project will bring together African and international scholars through Prof Okorie’s long-time collaboration with the Open African Innovation Research (Open AIR) network. She will be working closely with key members of the Open AIR network: Dr Tesh W Dagne (York University), who is part of the Research Caucus body of Open AIR, and Professors Caroline Ncube (University of Cape Town) and Jeremy de Beer (University of Ottawa), who are both Open AIR Steering Committee members. Profs de Beer and Ncube will, on behalf of the Open AIR Steering Committee, serve as members of the Research Advisory Group for this project.
The project will also support the training of postdoctoral researchers and postgraduate students through initiatives such as the Data Science Law Lab’s Africa, Law & [Emerging] Technologies Policy Hackathon, thereby reinforcing a new generation of scholars working at the intersection of AI and IP.
Rather than applying foreign policy templates to African contexts, the project emphasises co-created, locally grounded solutions. It draws on participatory research methods and targets tangible outcomes – from engaging IP administrators and national policymakers to informing positions in global fora like the African Union, African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) and G20/G7 platforms.
“IP innovation can truly catalyse AI’s potential,” Prof Okorie adds. “Africa must define its own AI-IP policy narrative – and must do so collaboratively and strategically. To realise AI’s potential in Africa, we need an AI-IP policy that is context-aware and future-ready, inclusive and equitable – and one that reflects our development priorities. That’s what this project is about.”