Response to Dr. Ekekwe’s blog on “Global Productivity=Technology + IRP”, Nkpuhe

by Reneta Milcheva

Globalization and particularly the rapid spread of communication-enabling technology and virtual networks have shown us that we live in a world of ‘ideas without borders’. Creativity and ingenuity abounds in different corners of the globe. Novel ideas have come from different cultures, races, regions, social strata and faiths. But what separates the “boy who harnessed the wind” from the boy who dreamed up the iPad? The answer is intellectual property rights (‘IPR’) and it is given by Dr. Ndubuisi Ekekwe, the founder of African Institution of Technologyand author of Nanotechnology and Microelectronics: Global Diffusion, Economics and Policy in his latest blog on raising productivity and improving innovation in Africa, specifically in his native country- Nigeria.

Earlier this month, Apple launched its latest product- the iPad, which is said to be a game-changer in digital media and consumption of news and entertainment. As the world marvels at yet another technological feat ‘made in America’ it is an opportune time to defend the role of well-defined and protected intellectual property rights. Dr. Ekekwe is right to distinguish between ‘inventors’ and ‘innovators’, with the latter prevailing in societies with secure IPRs, who also happen to enjoy greater productivity and wealth. This correlation is the crust of the author’s argument.

The process of innovation and productivity is contingent upon well functioning intellectual property rights system. I agree with Dr. Ekekwe that those who enable the erosion or violation of IPRs through piracy fail to recognize that they deprive their communities from unleashing the powers of innovation. Just like the vicious cycles created by the existence of ‘un-real estate,’ the disincentives and productivity loss stemming from widespread “un-real intellectual property” are hard to undo and reverse.  Many of the countries in Africa could reap the economic benefits that come with a demographic dividend only if they can incentivize young people to learn, dream, and capitalize on their very real dreams and ideas by granting them secure intellectual rights so that they can trade and invest in their greatest assets- their minds.

We cannot close the wealth gap if we do not address the (intellectual) property rights gap first!