Recent developments on geographical indications in OAPI

In April 2024, OAPI and its partners recently held a symposium in Douala, Cameroon, under the theme “Geographical Indications in Africa: current situation and development prospects”. This meeting brought together various stakeholders from the global GI promotion ecosystem, having a particular focus on Africa.

A Geographical Indication (GI) is a sign identifying goods as originating from a specific geographical area and possessing a given quality, reputation or other characteristic that is essentially attributable to the specific geographical origin. The main function of a GI is to indicate a connection between that quality, reputation or characteristic of the goods and their territory of origin.

Bearing in mind the abundance of natural resources in Africa, African business could benefit immensely if some of the goods which originate on the continent can be attributed with a level of quality or reputation, recognised by international trading organisations.

The symposium saw attendees from approximately 30 countries, including development institutions and intellectual property offices, OAPI officials, national GI management committees, farmers and artisans.

The symposium aimed to assess the efforts that have been made to promote GIs, identify limiting factors and outlining prospects for their development and expansion across the continent. Various GIs and other quality agricultural and artisanal products from African countries were also showcased at the symposium.

Two products in Cameroon have been labelled as GIs by OAPI, being Penja pepper and Oku white honey. In demonstrating the potential value of GIs, experts shared that the price of Penja pepper has increased nearly tenfold in the last fourteen years following its labelling in 2013, where the price rose from between CFA 2,500 – CFA 3,000 at the time to CFA 20,000 in 2022. Cameroon is on track to finalise the labelling process for its red cocoa, which was initiated in 2017.

The conference was considered a success and a great step forward in the intellectual property industry.

Source: Les acteurs d’une trentaine de pays analysent les pistes de développement à Douala (oapi.int)
Cameroon’s red cocoa nears labeling as OAPI awaits coloration analysis – Business in Cameroon