UNICOM Country · Episode 03 ·
SOUTH AFRICA
University Commercialisation
The commercial engine for South Africa's universities.
Dr Babongile Mkhize
Chair of the Convocation // Advisory Board Member
DaVinci Institute // MARATTO
Phin Mpofu-Masamba II
Founder & CEO
MARATTO
On MARATTO™ from South Africa
The commercial engine for South Africa's universities.
South Africa's 2008 Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act gave the country something no other African nation has: a legal mandate for every publicly funded university to identify, protect, and commercialise its research, with a national IP management office (NIPMO) to enforce it. Almost two decades on, the science is strong. The institutional scaffolding is real. What stands between the two and the market is what one recent study calls limited human and financial resources, a lack of commercialisation expertise, and weak links to the private sector.
Learnings will include
- iWhy the IPR-PFRD Act delivered structure but not yet scale.
- iiWhat a fractional, outsourced TTO model unlocks for institutions that already have one.
- iiiHow South African research, ventures and spinouts move through the MARATTO pipeline.
Meet the speakers
Dr Babongile Mkhize
Chair of the Convocation // Advisory Board Member · DaVinci Institute // MARATTO
Dr Babongile Mkhize holds a PhD in Technology and Innovation Management and spent two decades at South Africa's Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, most recently as Director of Innovation Priorities and Ins…
Phin Mpofu-Masamba II
Founder & CEO · MARATTO
Phin Mpofu-Masamba II is the Founder and CEO of MARATTO, where the mission is to commercialise African university research and innovation at scale. The vision is bold and simple: every African university, an engine of pr…
Agenda
60 min
- 15 minPresentation on What South Africa's public data is showing about the research and innovation output of its universities — Phin Mpofu-Masamba II
- 20 minFireside Chat with Dr Mkhize
- 25 minOpen-floor Q&A
Who should attend
- Vice-Chancellors, DVCs and university leadership
- TTO heads, research managers, innovation directors
- Faculty and students with research or innovations with commercial potential
- Alumni with a retrospective innovation linked to their alma mater
- Funders and policy actors backing African innovation
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