The relationship between intellectual property rights and technology is first analysed. Two ways in which comparative advantage can be endogenously created are then discussed. The paper attempts to draw insights from these ideas, and from the empirical literature, to suggest a specific research agenda of immediate relevance to policy formulation and advice in Africa, and for democratizing global economic relations.

The paper finds that:

The enforcement of the WTO agreements under TRIPS has serious consequences for the technological base of African countries in their fight against poverty and disease
under globalization, the North-South technology gap will be exacerbated by integration unless globalization comes with reductions in the costs of adoption
there is mounting evidence to suggest that diffusion is geographically bounded, therefore the role of foreign direct investment in technological spillovers becomes crucial
The paper recommends research that examines:

the specific provisions of TRIPS and relates them to the needs, tastes and natural endowments of selected African countries so as to understand the conditions that maximize the value of the intellectual property, as well as the terms that would minimize protection
market integration and its impact on technological possibilities and how these possibilities are exploited within economic systems in Africa
the sensitivity of foreign direct investment to tariffs within the region and the implications of this for technological capabilities in Africa