Abstract
This chapter argues that geographical indications (GIs) can contribute to increasing the exports of African countries (SDG 17.11), through inter alia branding. It uncovers the multifaceted factors that shape the GI status quo in Africa, including colonialism, limited tools and technologies to design GI products and African governments’ failure to invest in building and maintaining thriving GI systems. By providing proof from Pedro’s Ogogoro, an organic premium spirit handcrafted in Nigeria, it shows how branding can transform an undervalued Indigenous product into an internationally revered product.
Keywords: Africa; African Union; Branding; Endogenous development; Geographical indications; Ogogoro; SDGs; Trade.
Citation: Titilayo Adebola, “Branding as a tool to promote geographical indication exports and sustainable development in Africa” in The Elgar Companion to Intellectual Property and the Sustainable Development Goals Edited by Matthew Rimmer, Caroline B. Ncube, and Bita Amani (Edward Elgar 2024) 499–521.
