The power of ideas: Exploring Kenya’s new economic frontier

By XN Iraki

The World Intellectual Property Office (Wipo), a part of the UN system keeps track of the world body of new ideas, which are protected by patents.

Wipo’s main objective is "to encourage creative activity and promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world."

Through Wipo website, you can find how many patents are registered in each country each year by both residents and non-residents.

The data is a close approximation of a country’s propensity to generate new ideas, though several ideas are never registered or protected by patents, particularly in developing countries.

The Wipo data does not paint a very rosy image for Kenya in terms of new ideas generation.

In 2006, Kenya registered 24 patents, USA 173,770, Singapore 7,393, Japan 141,399 and South Korea 120,790. Singapore’s case is unique because her population is about a tenth of Kenya’s but the patents registered are 300 times more!

Why are we not generating new ideas, yet the modern post-industrial world runs on new ideas, the equivalent of oil in the industrial world?

Demerits of piracy

Why are we not registering patents that guarantee us monopolies to make money for almost two decades? Why are we not innovating?

Truthfully, ideas are profitable. A computer applications programme could cost you Sh10,000 but it can fit into a CD worth Sh30 and copied in ten minutes. This clearly shows why piracy is so popular. With piracy, the idea generators, the innovators will stop working. Except may be poets, people do not generate ideas for fun, they are driven by incentives. They pay off when the ideas are commercialised.

Some of the most profitable firms such as Microsoft and Oracle are driven by ideas, and so are major pharmaceutical firms that rely heavily on patented drugs before patent expiry and generics take over with the resultant fall in prices.

Economically speaking, ideas fall under entrepreneurship, the fourth factor of production, much talked about, but rarely practiced.

intellectual property

Enough digression. Our failure to generate new ideas and make money has a lot to do with our socio-cultural set up. We do not appreciate new ideas because traditionally, few Kenyans have made it big through generation of new ideas till recently when Cellulant and other small start-ups rode on the internet and mobile phone revolution to make lots of money.

Most Kenyans are tied up to the tangibles, land, buildings and cash. Serious economists in fact argue that instead of coming up with a land policy, we should have started with the intellectual property policy.

The power of ideas can be increased several fold by network. When you cite other people in the media, in journals and books, you help them strengthen their ideas making them more potent as brands that can be paid for, with a premium.

Students can pay to listen to Prof Michel Porter, but not Prof Githaka-ini, who may not have been cited in any book or journal.

Porter’s books will also be sold at a premium too. That Kenyans fear reinforcing each other is not in doubt.

We disparage other peoples’ ideas even when we do not offer substitutes.

We love imported products and ideas, check bibliographies of journals, dissertations and books written in Africa.

In the long run, our ideas wither and are replaced.

Reward regurgitator

Other observers argue our intellectual traditions do not emphasise innovations and creativity, they reward regurgitators.

Yet, you rarely make any money by repeating what others have done. Ever noted that every new product is always over priced before imitators enter leading to lower the prices?

Even new hairstyles are expensive! Our problems start early when we quarrel children for trying to switch on the radio or TV, instead of showing them how to. Why does a child learn to talk in two years only?

Enough lamentation, where do we go from here?

The post-industrial society based on services will continue to create demand for new ideas.

The nature of the Kenyan economy is that services might be a better way to go than smoke stacks. Competition will demand new ideas while the nature of human beings is such that we love new ideas in form of services and products. How often do you buy a new mobile phone because you want to appear "cool"?

Curriculum reform

We should start in our schools, reforming our curriculum to make creativity the backbone. It was through curriculum reform that US won the race to the moon.

The 1957 launch of Soviet spacecraft *Sputnik* forced Americans to reform their curriculum to force children to be more creative.

We must publicise innovative ideas beyond music. Why don’t we have annual awards for innovations in different fields? How many Kenyans have got HSC, MBS or OGW because of their innovations?

Finally, we must give incentives to idea generators, innovators. One option is to make the law tougher on pirates (not those ones!), those who steal ideas and reap from where they never sowed. How many Kenyans are in jail for photocopying books or DVDs?

In our quest to achieve vision 2030, we shall need new ideas, untested, practical and pragmatic.