Intellectual property most significant, says Mwijage

SAULI GILIARD

AS Tanzania has embarked on an industrialisation drive, the dream will not be realised should Intellectual property matters be ignored, Minister of Trade and Empowerment, Mr Charles Mwijage, has said.

Opening the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO)’s two-day roving seminar on fostering creativity and innovation for economic growth and development in Africa held in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Mr Mwijage said it was meaningless to innovate without protection.

Citing the economic contribution of copyright-based industries, he said a 2012 World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) study showed that “Tanzania demonstrated that copyright based industries make a significant contribution to national economy.”

He said data showed that between 2007 and 2010m copyright- based industries generated between 391.6bn/- and 680.9bn/-, translating to a contribution of between 3-4 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Mr Mwijage further noted that employees in the industry generated between 38.9bn/- to 83.7bn/-, a proportion of between 2.8 and 5.2 per cent of the total national economic value, employing between 28,202 and 44,331 people.

“In terms of GDP contribution, the copyright-based industries generally performed better than hotels, restaurants and mining and quarrying sectors,” the minister added.

Under the information technology sphere, innovators, designers and creators are required to protect their property through IP, to avoid plagiarisms.

In the event which was also attended by ARIPO General Director Fernando dos Santos and senior Counselor Regional Bureau for Africa Joyce Banya, first secretary of Japanese embassy in Tanzania Yuji Nakayama said establishing and improving IP systems was essential for promoting innovations and developing industries in Africa.

However, the chief executive officer of Copyright Society of Tanzania (COSOTA), Doreen Sinare, said the country needed to ratify and domesticate the international instruments to make sure that Tanzania “adheres to international systems for the implementation of IP in our country.”

Ms Banya said Tanzania’s choice for hosting the seminar stemmed from its impressive performance in matters pertaining to IP. Other local players that attended the seminar are Business Registration and Licensing Agency, Plant Breeders’ Rights, artists representatives and innovators.