Accelera Africa: Intellectual Property & Legal | With Dr. Charlene Musiza
The African Leadership University and Health Innovation Hub invite you to register now for our next Accelera Africa!
This session will focus on a critical issue for many businesses: Intellectual Property & Legal. We’ll be joined by special guest Dr. Charlene Musiza, Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the SARChI Chair in Intellectual Property, Innovation and Development.
What IP is and Why it matters? What a patent protects?
In this session, Charlene will share how appropriate IP rights can support small and early-stage companies across the continent, along with resources that help founders protect and scale their ideas. Founders will explore how to identify, manage, and leverage IP and regulatory strategies to strengthen their ventures.
We encourage all ventures to participate in this engaging and insightful discussion and look forward to your participation in this exciting opportunity to connect, learn, and grow together!
This event series is held as part of the Africa Health Collaborative, in partnership with Mastercard Foundation.
What is Accelera Africa?
Accelera Africa is a dynamic roundtable discussion series designed to bring together early-stage startups across the continent. Each session offers a collaborative space for sharing insights, experiences, and solutions that help entrepreneurs grow and navigate the hurdles of scaling their ventures. Through Accelera Africa, startups can exchange knowledge, discuss shared challenges, and provide support to one another – helping each participant find innovative ways to succeed.
Meet the Speaker
Dr Charlene Musiza is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the SARChI Chair in Intellectual Property, Innovation and Development. She holds an LLB from the University of Zimbabwe, as well as an LLM in Commercial Law and a PhD in Commercial Law from the University of Cape Town. She is also a lawyer licensed to practise in Zimbabwe.
Charlene previously worked as a legal associate specialising in corporate and commercial law. Her research lies at the intersection of intellectual property and development, with a focus on how small‑scale producers can leverage appropriate IP rights. She has published across various IP subject areas, including geographical indications, traditional knowledge, innovation, and agricultural value chains.
She is an alumna of the Queen Elizabeth Advanced Scholars (QES-AS) programme and has worked for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Open African Innovation Research Network (Open AIR). Charlene has also consulted on the development of sector‑specific IP policies and on designing appropriate legal protection schemes for SMEs.