CeLPII and the Africa Creatives Alliance host CeLPII Roundtable Policy talk on Using Intellectual Property as Collateral in the Creative Industry
- Janice Celine
- Mar 25
- 3 min read
By Angu’zu Raymond
The CeLPII Roundtable Policy Talks are a series of engagements designed to convene policymakers, industry leaders, and experts to examine policy-related issues in technology and innovation and to generate practical recommendations for legal reforms.
On 19th of March, 2026, the Africa Creatives Alliance and the Centre for Law, Policy and Innovation Initiative (CeLPII) convened a round table policy discussion on intellectual property-backed lending in Uganda at Motiv, Bugolobi.
The roundtable brought together key stakeholders, including creatives, policymakers, lawyers, financial institutions, and legal experts, to explore how intellectual property can be leveraged as a financial asset.
Convened under the theme "Using Intellectual Property as Collateral: IP-backed Lending in the Creative Economy", the objectives of the round table policy talk included examining intellectual property as a financial asset; identifying barriers to IP-backed financing; exploring valuation and securitisation models; fostering collaboration among stakeholders; and the proposition of actionable steps for the realisation of IP-backed lending in Uganda.
Janice Celine Nantumbwe (head of policy and research at CeLPII) delivered the opening remarks, and Amanda Gowa (program lead, Africa Creatives Alliance) welcomed the attendees before challenging financial institutions to rethink traditional collateral systems. She encouraged policymakers to support the evolving narrative of the creative economy.
The keynote address, delivered by Hon. Racheal Magoola, was instrumental in highlighting how intellectual property (IP) is already being leveraged as collateral across the world, calling for Uganda to adopt similar frameworks.
Geoffrey Ekongot, the executive director of Uganda Music Association, presented on the securitization of IP and its challenges, such as the absence of standardized valuation frameworks and IP ownership uncertainty. He also provided approaches Uganda can adopt to realise IP-backed lending.
The panel discussion explored how IP can be leveraged as collateral within the creative economy, bringing together perspectives from the legal, financial, regulatory, and creative sectors. The panelists included Mathew Nabwiso, Dennis Birungi, David Tayebwa, Sheila Catherine Abamu, Johanna Kouzmine, Keren Kwikiriza, and the panel was moderated by Chrispus Mutabuza.
Key concerns emerged around the structural weaknesses in the ecosystem, such as creatives operating informally with limited business orientation, IP registration levels remaining low, no widely accepted valuation standards, financial institutions remaining cautious due to liquidity and recovery risks, and broader data, policy, and regulatory gaps persisting.
Dennis Birungi, senior registration officer at the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), emphasised that IP registration for copyright in Uganda is still significantly underutilised, with fewer than 2,000 registrations. He stressed the need for sustained awareness and education efforts to bridge this gap and enable IP-backed financing to take root.
The recommendations explored included developing standardised IP valuation frameworks and strengthening IP registration systems, as they address the core gaps of uncertainty in IP valuation and low registration levels. Both of these currently limit the ability of financial institutions to assess risk and extend IP-backed financing to Ugandan creatives.
Kenneth Muhangi, the director of CeLPII, then called for a pilot project through the establishment of a working group to explore the applicability of IP-backed lending in Uganda before Patrick Joram Mugisha, the commissioner for business development and quality assurance under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, gave the closing remarks to end the event.
With the passage of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2025, the topic of royalties has attracted significant attention within the media. As such, the conversation on how to use copyright to obtain financing was extremely timely. Participants showed a keen interest in understanding how IP in the music and film industries makes revenue and how IP can be used to back credit. The event was useful in providing this information and fostering room for further action in this area.
About CeLPII
The Centre for Law, Policy and Innovation Initiative (CeLPII) is a Ugandan think tank dedicated to advancing sustainable development by aligning law and policy with the realities of emerging industries and technological change.
For more information, please contact us: jcn@ktaadvocates.com
Our Website: https://www.celpii.com/
Call us: 0414 4530114
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