Now that the 2012 Olympics is officially over, this little Leo
feels that certain African countries may well begin an appraisal of their
performance at the games. Outside Africa, Jamaica should have no reason to be downbeat as the brand equity in Usain Bolt continues on an upward trajectory as well as the island’s popularity just in the past two weeks or so.
No wonder Jamaica can easily
capitalise on this goodwill, like the United Kingdom , to drum up foreign
direct investment which would inevitably include tourism.
For the African country in review today, its athletes will
be heading home without any medals in their bags and one couldn’t just imagine laying any blame on them if they didn’t have the basic
facilities or support to stand a chance. Ask Uganda’s Stephen Kiprotich,
the 2012 Olympic marathon champion why he moved to Eldoret, Kenya.
The adage, ‘you reap what you sow’ is often true – at least for sportsmen and
women.
Let’s now talk intellectual property (IP). When Afro-IP visited Burkina Faso on
18 July 2011, we found a website for its copyright office but none for the IP
office.
Today, while the copyright office’s website still functions and appears updated
(‘good news’!
says Afro Leo), there is still, sadly, no website for the IP office.
Considering the above, a parallel - in this little Leo’s view
- could be drawn here and the main question is: how can there be any improvement or development in IP administration if the office is starved of necessary support or facilities in present terms?
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Want to know who won what?, see here
