The study has revealed that Botswana, Kenya and Zambia each saw piracy rates drop by one percent as a result of concerted efforts from both the public and private sectors to promote the message that piracy not only robs software vendors of revenues, but that the end users lose out too.
Chairman of the BSA, Stephan le Roux, says while the African region's overall piracy rate grew between 2005 and 2006, a number of African countries saw the rate of piracy drop as a result of government and industry actions.
"This also included the rapid influx of branded computers that ship with legitimate software, taking market share from locally-assembled PCs that can ship without legitimate software," says Stephan le Roux.
She added that it is encouraging to see that the issue of piracy is being taken seriously by governments, organisations and end-users in Africa although the average piracy rate in Africa is still over 80 percent and the region has some of the highest piracy rates worldwide.
"It is important to note that while Botswana, Kenya and Zambia have managed to drop their piracy rates, these drops have not resulted in significant cost savings for those governments, which indicates that there needs to be a much more concerted effort in fighting piracy," le Roux says.
She said that China, for example, has managed to drop its piracy rate by 10 percent in three years, resulting in a reduction of piracy-related losses of over US$500 million (about P3.1 billion) in total. "I have no doubt that similar savings can be achieved in Africa if governments begin to step-up their anti-piracy activities as Botswana, Kenya and Zambia are currently doing." Meanwhile, the Microsoft's Anti-Piracy manager for East and Southern Africa Abed Hlatshwayo says when piracy occurs, those doing it are normally under the impression it will not hurt software vendors.
"People are often under the impression that software vendors have enough money and that one or two illegal copies of their software will not hurt them in the greater scheme of things," Hlatshwayo says.
"But when you consider the fact that millions of people across the continent are doing the same, this can add up to millions of dollars of lost revenue, US$201 million (about P1.25 billion) in 2006 to be exact."
This, Hlatshwayo says, has a knock-on effect on the government's ability to deliver certain services to its citizens, because for every pirated copy of software, the government loses tax revenue that could be put straight back into delivering services to the people of Africa.
This also has an effect on direct foreign investment, which forms a very important part of growing an economy. "So, while piracy is a crime and can lead people to be prosecuted for theft, the secondary effect of piracy affects the welfare of the broader community as well. Can we really blame the government for not delivering services if we are robbing it of the money to do so?" Hlatshwayo asks.
There is the opportunity for African countries to learn from their neighbours when it comes to fighting piracy. South Africa, for example, has the lowest piracy rate in Africa (35 percent) and is in the BSA's list of the top 20 countries with the world's lowest piracy rates.
This is where many international companies have opted to set up regional offices for Africa because of the country's anti-piracy and intellectual property protection policies, giving South Africa a huge opportunity to attract more investment from international organisations - strengthening its economy.
"It all starts with citizens. Give some thought to what you would do if you saw somebody drop their purse in front of you and continue walking. Would you give it back to them, or check to see how much cash is in it before you empty it and throw it away?" Hlatshwayo asks.
"We all know what the right thing to do is, but how many people would do it? It's an interesting question, especially considering the world we live in where a little extra money could help make things just a little bit better.
"Piracy is exactly the same. At the end of the day, it's stealing and it's a crime that is punishable by law. But piracy hurts more than just the software makers, it hurts the economy and the people who depend on the economy as well," Hlatshwayo concludes.
According to the report, there are five countries in West, East and Central Africa that constitute the top 20 countries with the highest piracy rates worldwide. Zimbabwe ranks 4th (91 percent), Cameroon ranks 10th (84 percent), Zambia ranks 14th (82 percent), Ivory Coast ranks 16th (82 percent) and Nigeria ranks 18th (82 percent).
