Gift H. Sibanda Director General African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) Harare

Born on the 15th September, 1957 in Gwanda, Zimbabwe, Mr Gift Huggins Sibanda is the current Director General of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO). He holds a Masters Degree in Law having majored in Civil and Criminal Laws, with Intellectual Property Law as a specialization component.

Since 1983 he has been working with national, regional and international organizations in the field of Intellectual Property. Include; the National Patent Office of Zimbabwe, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (Fellow on Patent Information) and now the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO).

During his span of IP work experience he has participated in numerous high level international meetings on Intellectual Property; carried out consultancy work on IP; undertaken professional study visits with major IP offices; presented IP lectures at regional and international forum; and presented IP papers in more than twenty universities in Africa.

Currently he is a Member of the Advisory Board of the World Wide Academy; Executive Member of the Zimbabwe Standards Association (SAZ); Chairman of the Consultative Committee of WIPO, ARCT, OAPI and ARIPO; Member of OAPI/ARIPO Sub-Committee of the International Trademark Association (INTA); and Commissioner of Oaths.