ARIPO reaffirms commitment to innovation and development as 2025 draws to a close

By:  Nana Appiah Acquaye

The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) has reaffirmed its commitment to leveraging intellectual property to advance Africa’s development and self-sufficiency, as the organization reflects on its progress at the close of 2025.

In a year-end reflection, ARIPO Director-General, Bemanya Twebaze noted that nearly five decades after its establishment, the organization’s founding purpose remains central as knowledge, creativity and innovation increasingly drive economic growth across its Member States.

Twebaze highlighted that the global intellectual property landscape is undergoing rapid transformation, shaped by digitalisation, artificial intelligence, green technologies and evolving business models. Against this backdrop, he stressed the importance of Africa positioning itself as a producer and owner of innovation, supported by strong and inclusive intellectual property systems.

Guided by the ARIPO Strategic Plan 2022–2026, which is now more than 80 per cent implemented, the organization recorded measurable progress in 2025. Key achievements included the modernisation of operations, strengthened governance structures, enhanced transparency and compliance, expanded digital services, improved turnaround times through streamlined workflows, and stronger data and tracking systems to support decision-making and user confidence.

The Director-General also underscored continued investment in human capital, with capacity-building initiatives aimed at equipping intellectual property professionals and policymakers to respond effectively to emerging technologies and global trends.

Progress was also reported across ARIPO’s protocols, with rising patent applications reflecting sustained confidence in the Harare Protocol, alongside strong performance under the Banjul, Kampala and Arusha Protocols.

In addition, ARIPO intensified efforts to strengthen Africa’s innovation pipeline by promoting copyright awareness, supporting digital rights for creators, partnering with universities and innovation hubs to translate research into market-ready solutions, and advancing the digitisation of records to enhance transparency and evidence-based planning.

Collaboration remained a central pillar of ARIPO’s work in 2025, with partnerships involving regional and international organisations such as OAPI, EUIPO, CIPO, JPO, CNIPA, EPO, IPOS and WIPO contributing to knowledge exchange and reinforcing Africa’s presence in global intellectual property forums.

Twebaze expressed appreciation to Member States, partners, innovators, creators and ARIPO staff for their contributions, reiterating the organization’s focus on building intellectual property systems that enable Africa not only to compete globally, but to lead and prosper.