Post Script

Following the post on Botswana immediately below and others on African countries seeking a stronger IP rights culture, Afro-IP weblog notes that it must be difficult to reconcile the balance between a robust IP regime which nurtures and incentivises a knowledge based economy, and the need for access to certain basic necessities such as Antiretroviral Drugs which may be constrained by IP laws through increased prices or exclusive supply lines. For example, Botswana also has the one of highest rates of HIV infections in the world and Uganda recently reported relaxing IP laws to combat the problem (see Allafrica report here). This is not a new issue for the continent but one which attracts emotional debate.