Presentation at Afrika-Kolloquium Frankfurt

Ute Röschenthaler was invited to present her research in the weekly Afrika-Kolloquium of the department of Anthropology, Goethe University Frankfurt. In her presentation entitled “Shared Ownership oder exklusives Eigentum? Sinoafrikanische Koproduktion am Beispiel von Teemarken in Mali“, she elaborated on her research on the green tea market in Mali, on brand creation that Malian entrepreneurs accomplished in collaboration with their Chinese suppliers, and on the widespread piracy of tea brands.

She highlighted the creative solution of Sino-Malian co-ownership of Malian tea brands that enables brand protection in two different legal zones: Malian entrepreneurs own their brand and sell their tea in Francophone West Africa where it is protected through Mali’s membership in the Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle while their Chinese supplier owns the same brand in China to prevent other Chinese suppliers from producing and selling this brand to African traders who might take it to Africa.

Ute Röschenthaler also mentioned an exhibition of her collection of Malian tea brands that she curated with students at the Schule des Sehens, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in 2019, and the online museum she created at www.virtualgreenteamuseum.de.