This interesting stats from an article from Reuters caught my attention. Out of over 205,000 patents made worldwide last year, Nigeria only accounted for 7!!! That’s an astonishingly low count considering the rash of apps and inventions created everyday in Nigeria.
Figures from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) show that in 2013, there were 351 international applications from South Africa filed through its Patent Cooperating Treaty (PCT) system.
Morocco had 54 filings, Nigeria and Kenya had seven each. Africa accounted for about 500 PCT applications last year, less than 1 percent of more than 205,000 made globally, indicating patent protection is still embryonic on the fast-growing continent.