The Director General of the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) Mr. Denis Bohoussou received this Monday, May 16, a delegation from the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), led by the Director General, Mr. Bemanya Twebaze. The delegation is in Yaounde as part of the work of the 6th joint commission between the two institutions, a meeting during which the parties will discuss intellectual property issues.

Invited to share the feeling that animates him when he and the accompanying delegation are welcomed at the headquarters of OAPI, Mr. Bemanya Twebaze stated that the moment is extremely amazing, as he wanted to come to the headquarters of the OAPI in Yaoundé to meet his brother Dr. Bohoussou. He went further saying: “OAPI and ARIPO are sisters. They are championing in that issue of intellectual property in Africa”. Expressing himself about challenges that both organizations are facing, he continued: “We are critically looking at how we can support the youth (…) We have a young population, it’s innovative, it’s creative and what we need to do is to support it to unleash their potential. We are also concerned with women issues, climate change challenges, wealth creation and how we can use intellectual property to mitigate that climate change challenges; How we can use IP to ensure we have access to affordable medicines. How we can use IP to transform Africa.”.

The meeting that begins today will end on May 18, with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between ARIPO and OAPI and the conclusion of the joint work program 2022-2023.