Sibanda, McLean

Bigen Global, South Africa

Dr. McLean Sibanda is a respected intellectual property, innovation, and entrepreneurship thought leader with an excellent understanding and experience of African ecosystems. He was the Chief Executive Officer of The Innovation Hub (South Africa) before joining Bigen Group, where he is Managing Director for Bigen Global Limited. An engineer and admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa and registered South African patent attorney, he co-founded boutique intellectual property firm Sibanda & Zantwijk Attorneys and consulting company Intangible Consulting t/a Ideanav. He has served on the Executive Board of the International Association of Science Parks (IASP) and also as President of the African Division.

With over a decade of involvement with science parks, he is an international consultant in the area of science parks and incubators. He is a visiting lecturer at Africa University (Mutare, Zimbabwe), where he lectures Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Masters in Intellectual Property (MIP) offered by WIPO, ARIPO and Africa University. He has authored several articles on IP matters and is a sought-after speaker and moderator on topics related to innovation and entrepreneurship. He has consulted for the Africa Union, SADC, UNECA, UNCTAD, WIPO, and various African governments and serves on several boards, including Africa Health Research Institute and Qualibasic Seed Company (Kenya)(as Board Chair) and the Council of the University of KwaZulu Natal.