Brands In Africa: The Dos And The Don'ts

Africa is a vast continent and is often underestimated, both from a business but also from a brand protection perspective.

Africa's land mass exceeds that of India, China, the United States and Europe combined. It is also the second most populous continent, with over 1.3 billion people – or about 16.5% of the world's population. It has the world's largest free trade area. Business opportunities abound!

For brand owners, it makes sense to identify the business opportunity first and secure deals before thinking of brand protection. However, in an African context, it is prudent to secure protection of trademarks sooner rather than later. There are a host of reasons why brand protection should be top of mind when it comes to Africa. There are definite dos and don'ts in navigating the 54 countries, of which 52 have working trademark systems.