Dr Titilayo Adebola delivered a paper on the “Relationship Between Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and Competition Policies/Laws under the AfCFTA” during the UNCTAD/AfCFTA Capacity Building Workshop on Competition Policy (21 to 22 March 2022). In her paper, Dr Adebola examined monopolistic practices fostered by IPRs and measures to address these practices. She unpacked complementary and conflicting effects of IPRs and competition law in four industries: food/agriculture, pharmaceuticals, information technology/software and energy.
The Workshop brought together key officials from the UNCTAD Secretariat, AfCFTA Secretariat and Competition Law Offices as well as Legal Practitioners and Academics to discuss the core tenets of the AfCFTA Competition Law Protocol. It also covered discussions on procedural issues of the Competition Protocol and the interlinkages of competition with digital trade, investment and IPRs regimes. The Workshop concluded with key considerations in the drafting, design and development of the AfCFTA Competition Policy Protocol.
