To promote the growth of creative industry and support intellectual property protection and enforcement in Africa, the US Department of State, in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), hosted eight participants from Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya from June 22 to July 3 through an International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP).
Participants from Nigeria included Obi Asika, Director General/Chief Executive Officer, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Co-founder of InkBlot Productions, Zulu Oyibo, and Talent/Business Manager, YBNL Nation Entertainment, Alexander Okeke.
The participants traveled to Washington DC where they met with US policymakers and industry associations; Los Angeles where they met with industry leaders and professional guilds; and Atlanta to interact with production studios and local government.
The deployment of strong intellectual property protection and enforcement frameworks assured creative artists, inventors, industrial designers and other rights holders that their works would be protected, and that they will receive compensation for the use of their creations. Also, it’s believed that innovation, supported by a strong intellectual property protection and enforcement framework could create and sustain jobs, generate higher wages across multiple integrated industries and significantly grow an economy.
The IVLP visit builds upon the US Department of State’s efforts since the 2022 US-Africa Leaders Summit to support the growth of Africa’s creative economy.
Since the 2022 US-Africa Leaders Summit, the Department has hosted four creative ecosystem roundtables in Africa in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria to foster discussion on the importance of the creative industries and the support stronger intellectual property frameworks can provide.
UNESCO, which published the first complete mapping of Africa’s film and audiovisual industries in 2021, supported the events. The State Department also partnered with the US Patent and Trademark Office to host a fifth creative industry roundtable in Egypt in June. The implementing partner for the IVLP was the Meridian International Center.