Protecting women’s innovation in Namibia by securing intellectual property rights for women entrepreneurs

In a move to position intellectual property (IP) protection as a cornerstone of women's economic empowerment, the Namibian Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare and the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to integrate IP rights into the EntreprenHER programme, in Windhoek, Namibia, on 19 February 2026.

This follows the Namibian government’s announcement in 2025 that the EntreprenHER programme would be incorporated into its sixth National Development Plan. EntreprenHER, a partnership between UN Women and De Beers Group, has to date supported over 3,500 women since its inception and aims to reach a total of 4,500 by the end of 2026 in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.

“In Namibia, women make up 51% of the population and own approximately 27,000 businesses across sectors, including food processing, manufacturing, fashion, hospitality, and increasingly in traditionally male-dominated industries such as automotive and construction. Yet many of these women entrepreneurs remain vulnerable to having their innovations, brands, and creative products copied or appropriated without protection or compensation,” said the CEO of BIPA, Ainna Kaundu, CEO of BIPA.

 

For Benitha Nakaambo, owner of Nita's Manufacturing and a 2018 EntreprenHER alumna, the IP training transformed not just her business but her entire approach to entrepreneurship. "We were doing the business, we were selling however you could come up with a business, and the next day somebody else could just take it," she explains. "BIPA, through this programme, was able to say, ‘this is how you can protect your idea, this is how you can trademark your idea, this is how you can copyright your idea’,” explained Nakaambo.

What began as a passion for creating distinctive Namibian spice blends and sauces has evolved into a protected, recognized brand. Nakaambo’s journey illustrates a critical gap that the new MoU aims to address systematically: "For those of us that comes from a previously disadvantaged background, we have ideas, we don't have the capital to advance that idea. BIPA through this programme helped us to ensure that the sustainability of Nitha's product, of which is also copyrighted in terms of the contents and the product that we use, is secured," she added.

In Namibia, EntreprenHER is implemented by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare. Minister Emma Kantema emphasized that intellectual property protection is essential for women entrepreneurs to scale beyond subsistence. "Strengthening IP awareness and registration is a critical step toward formalisation, market access, and improved business valuation for women-led enterprises," she stated during the signing ceremony. "It is also a concrete way to ensure women entrepreneurs benefit fully from the products and identities they create."

The partnership builds on BIPA's role as a long-standing strategic partner and member of the EntreprenHER Technical Steering Committee. BIPA contextualized the significance of the agreement: "This MoU transitions our pilot project with WIPO into a sustainable national programme that will build IP commercialization skills and business networking capacity for women entrepreneurs across all 14 regions of Namibia. We are committed to ensuring that women entrepreneurs can protect their innovations and compete fairly in the marketplace," said Kaundu.

Anna Mutavati, UN Women Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Aleta Miller, UN Women South Africa Representative, and the EntreprenHER team witnessed the signing. Mutavati congratulated the Namibian government for translating action into policy, highlighting that Namibia ranks number one in Africa and eighth globally in gender equality. The World Economic Forum's 2025 Global Gender Gap Report revealed that the country has closed 81.1% of its gender gap.

“UN Women is fully committed to this programme, which continues to demonstrate how strategic partnerships can translate policy priorities into real support for women on the ground. Integrating intellectual property protection ensures that women entrepreneurs are not just participants in the economy, but protected innovators who will benefit from the IP assets and build generational wealth,” she said.

The "Intellectual Property for EntreprenHER" sub-programme represents a strategic evolution of the broader EntreprenHER initiative, which has trained over 1,485 women entrepreneurs across Namibia's 14 regions since 2017, supported by De Beers Group and implemented in partnership with UN Women. The programme has helped women strengthen business skills, improve financial discipline, enhance market readiness, and respond to economic shocks, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Looking ahead to Phase IV of the programme, the Ministry plans to implement the full Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) model, including the Expand Your Business (EYB) component, enabling women to not only start and improve businesses but to formalize, grow, and create jobs.

For Benitha, the vision is clear and deeply personal. "We need to create avenues where we have monitoring and evaluation processes to ensure that we move through stages before we release, how do you say, when you release a child to work," she reflects. "I think BIPA and this programme for women give the opportunity to leverage on that and to allow us to build generational wealth through small stages."

As Namibia positions intellectual property protection as a fundamental right for women entrepreneurs, the MoU signing represents more than a policy milestone—it is an investment in ensuring that women's innovations, creativity, and hard work are recognized, protected, and valued in the marketplace and beyond.