West African IP Initiative

In February 2009 the U.S. Department of Commerce and Ghana hosted IP enforcement officials from the ECOWAS region to determine ways to better protect IP in West Africa. As a result, nearly a dozen Ghanaian agencies have established a National Interagency Task Force on IP Protection. They include the Commercial Court, the Copyright Administration, CEPS, the FDB, the Standards Board, the Police Service, the Prosecution Division, and the Registrar General's Department, as well as the Ministries of Justice, Trade and Industry, and Environment, Science and Technology. Starting on the 28th April at the beachside resort (alongside) of La Palm Hotel (Accra), the Commerce Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) of the US Department of Commerce will organize the three-day workshop for 60 participants as part of US Agency for International Development's (USAID) African Global Competitiveness Initiative (AGCI). Artists and other industry stakeholders who would benefit from improved IP enforcement will also participate. (Modern Ghana). This workshop follows a similar event in Mali a few days ago.