SAMANTHA MADE
Africa’s music and creative industries are increasingly shaping global culture, but a fundamental question remains: is the continent capturing enough of the economic value generated by its creativity?
From Afrobeats and Amapiano to film, fashion and digital content, African creators are reaching audiences far beyond the continent. Yet weak intellectual property (IP) protection, limited rights-management systems and piracy continue to prevent many creators from fully benefiting from the commercial value of their work.
The challenge is increasingly becoming a matter of economic policy and international cooperation.
That was at the centre of discussions under the United States’ IP for Growth initiative, a year-long programme examining how stronger IP protection and enforcement can support Africa’s creative economy.
Speaking during a U.S. Department of State Africa Regional Media Hub briefing, Katherine Hiner, Intellectual Property Attaché for Sub-Saharan Africa at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), said the continent has significant creative potential but needs stronger systems to ensure rights holders can benefit from it.
“The creative economy is growing and changing rapidly, and there’s an insatiable appetite for African music worldwide,” Hiner said.
The initiative has included discussions in Geneva, Lagos and Johannesburg, bringing together government policymakers, artists, producers, entertainment lawyers and industry executives.
Hiner said the engagements focused on issues ranging from adapting IP systems to the digital age to understanding ownership of sound recordings.
She said the discussions repeatedly returned to one message: “Music is not just for fun; it is a business.”
The economic opportunity is already evident. Hiner cited figures from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) showing that Sub-Saharan African music markets have recorded double-digit growth for five consecutive years.
But despite the growth, significant value is still being lost.
“One of the presentations we had in both sessions was by the Music Economy Development Initiative, and they have data on a bunch of markets, and they found that in Kenya and Nigeria alone 286 million in recorded revenue is left uncollected each year,” Hiner said.
“That’s a loss.”
For Hiner, the problem is not a lack of talent or demand, but inadequate systems for converting that demand into sustainable income.
“The talent and demand is there, element one, but the value is slipping through the gap,” she said.
Hiner pointed to the United States as an example of the economic returns that can come from sustained investment in IP systems.
According to 2024 data from the USPTO cited during the briefing, industries that intensively use at least one form of IP contributed US$11.4 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product and supported 65.8 million jobs. IP-intensive industries also accounted for US$1.58 trillion in commodity exports.
The figures were particularly significant for copyright-intensive industries, which include sound recording, motion picture and video production, software publishing, broadcasting and performing arts.
Hiner said workers in these industries earned, on average, a 130 percent earnings premium over workers in non-IP-intensive industries, while the earnings premium increased by 30 percent between 2014 and 2024.
“So it shows us that copyright in the digital age, the value of it, it’s not declining; it’s growing,” she said.
For Africa, Hiner argued, capturing this value requires more than simply having IP laws on the books. Governments must also invest in the institutions responsible for administering and enforcing those rights.
“The discussions in Lagos and Joburg reinforced that this kind of growth requires two key things: the up-to-date IP laws on the books and the political will to fully implement them,” she said.
She identified three areas requiring particular attention: greater transparency and accountability in collection processes, public education about IP rights and obligations, and adequately resourced enforcement agencies capable of addressing piracy.
Education is especially important as creators increasingly operate in a digital and international marketplace.
Hiner said the workshops repeatedly highlighted the need for IP education not only among officials responsible for administering IP laws, but among artists and the general public.
She also highlighted the importance of collective management organisations (CMOs), which can help artists manage their rights and facilitate large-scale licensing where negotiating individual agreements for every use of a work would be impractical.
Digital distribution has also created new opportunities for African artists to reach international audiences. Hiner pointed to the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, collectively known as the WIPO Internet Treaties, as important instruments for adapting copyright protection to the digital environment.
When implemented nationally, she said, the treaties provide a legal structure that can help artists receive compensation for their work. Technical protection measures and rights management information can also support digital distribution models such as streaming and downloads.
But increased digital access has also created new challenges, particularly piracy.
Hiner described piracy as a major threat to the creative industry and rejected the idea that it is a victimless crime. She argued that stronger cooperation between enforcement agencies across borders is necessary, particularly because proceeds from piracy can intersect with wider organised-crime networks.
The United States has also sought to expand its IP cooperation in Africa beyond copyright.
In July, the USPTO signed an Accelerated Patent Grant Agreement with Ghana, the first such agreement between the U.S. agency and an African IP office. Hiner said the arrangement is intended to streamline patent examination and provide opportunities for training and cooperation.
The development illustrates how IP protection extends beyond music to inventions, technology, brands and entrepreneurship.
For Africa, the broader challenge is ensuring that the systems surrounding its creative and innovative output are strong enough to retain more economic value within the continent.
That will require investment in IP offices, rights-management systems, enforcement capacity, public education and cross-border cooperation.
Africa does not lack creativity or global audiences. What remains is building the intellectual property infrastructure capable of ensuring that the continent’s creativity generates sustainable economic returns.
As Hiner put it, “the talent and demand is there,” but without stronger systems, too much of the value risks continuing to slip through the gaps.
