Footprints is a captivating story about intellectual property (IP). It speaks to its role in society, trade, industry, and economy and expounds on the actual meaning of IP. The book lays a solid foundation for innovators, entrepreneurs, businesses, and nations to realise their full potential through IP policy, legislation, use and practices.

McLean Sibanda shares his personal story, and stories and testimonies of fellow travellers, taking us through their journey into the field of IP. He meticulously recounts South Africa’s path in transforming the management of IP emanating from publicly financed research and development (R&D), development of critical human capital and other infrastructure to ensure effective IP commercialisation and technology transfer.

Footprints is a timely masterpiece given the IP issues in Africa’s scramble for vaccines, and implementation of the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). 

The book provides strategies of how African countries can use IP and innovation to develop industries to ensure health security, and trading of goods that can benefit from the AfCFTA.

Narrated through a series of significant moments, Footprints demonstrates the importance of vision, solid foundation, collaboration, champions, and intentional steps for economic transformation. With glimpses into how countries such as China and Korea used IP to develop their economies, this book makes a compelling case for embracing IP, increased R&D investment, relevant human capital, and appropriate use of IP, in development of new products and services necessary for knowledge-based and industrialised economies.

Footprints is a must-read for any academic, aspiring intellectual property scholar, policy maker, economist, development activist, entrepreneur, researcher, innovator, professional, and technology transfer specialists.

“I would like to acknowledge and appreciate McLean Sibanda for putting this book together which will serve as a practitioners guide to anyone interested in supporting the innovation and entrepreneurship space in Africa and indeed beyond, taking an ecosystem approach. As a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) official who has had the privilege of working in the space of innovation and entrepreneurship over the last 7 years in 2 of the continent’s hotbeds of innovation, namely, South Africa and Kenya, home of MPESA, I can attest to the relevance of McLean’s lived experience in nurturing and promoting innovation in Africa.”

Mr. Walid Badawi
UNDP Kenya Resident Representative

“A good understanding of what innovation really means for the economic development of cities, regions and countries, of the social and cultural importance of entrepreneurship and of the challenges that start-ups have to overcome to succeed (and the success of start-ups is the success of their communities), is a necessary condition for designing the right public policies, elaborating the right strategies for the modern ecosystems and managing the zones and spaces where such policies will be implemented.”

Luis Sanz
President of IASP Advisory Council
Former IASP CEO