The African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) and its member states celebrate the 27th African Technology and Intellectual Property Day (JATPI), a day dedicated to promoting African innovation and inventiveness and to the valorization of intellectual property (IP).
Established in 1999, this day, commemorated on September 13th each year, is an annual event to raise awareness about the role of technology, innovation, and intellectual property in the economic, industrial, and social development of the continent. This year, the celebration focuses on a strategic issue: financing innovative Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through the valuation of intellectual property assets.
African innovation faces the challenge of financing
Innovative SMEs are now a major driver of growth, job creation, and economic transformation in OAPI member states . However, despite their potential, they still face significant difficulties in accessing the bank loans necessary for their development.
In many cases, patents, trademarks or other intellectual property assets, which nevertheless constitute real economic wealth, remain insufficiently recognized as instruments of guarantee or financial valuation.
It is to address this issue that OAPI has chosen to dedicate the 2026 edition of September 13 to reflecting on mechanisms to bring innovation and financing closer together and to provide more support to project promoters.
A high-level panel to open the debates
As a prelude to this celebration, a high-level panel was held on September 11, 2026, at the OAPI headquarters in Yaoundé. This meeting brought together several key players in the innovation ecosystem to discuss the financing of innovative SMEs.
The discussions benefited from the contributions of:
- Ms. Mariette Bissene MOULONGO, Coordinator of the Technipole Incubator of the National Higher Polytechnic School of the University of Yaoundé I. Representing a technological hub, she highlighted the technical role that the incubator plays in preparing the project leader and the project itself for maturation, before moving on to the search for funding.
- Mr. Paul Ghislain POUM BIMBAR, technology entrepreneur, expert in artificial intelligence and data science, founder of TOGET TECH, Innovation & Entrepreneurship Hub: "The incubation process helped us to better develop our idea. We went from a virtual idea to a marketable solution that has value and which, thanks to intellectual property, is now being recognized as an innovation among many others."
- Mr. Guy Francis BOUSSAFOU, Director of Patents and other Technical Creations at OAPI. Representing the Organization, as an industrial property office, it adopts a global approach through a value chain of technical and financial support integrating incubators and accelerators including the banking sector.
- Mr. Kaje Nzali Virgile, Head of the SME Department at Afriland First Bank Cameroon, stated that simply submitting a business plan to the bank is not enough to guarantee support. It is essential to ensure that the applicant has completed the necessary steps to be prepared to manage the financing effectively.
Moderated by Moustapha Ramadan Nlend, Head of the Publication, Documentation and Statistics Department at OAPI, the discussions allowed for a cross-pollination of perspectives between innovators, support structures, financial institutions and intellectual property specialists on the challenges related to the bankability of innovative projects.
OAPI presents its support mechanisms
During the discussions, OAPI highlighted several initiatives aimed at strengthening the innovation environment within its region
Among the mechanisms presented is the most innovative: the Invention and Innovation Financing Mechanism, developed in partnership with the African Guarantee Fund (AGF), which will act as guarantor for banks while OAPI prepares companies to efficiently receive this funding. This mechanism aims to facilitate access to financing for 1,000 (one thousand) innovative project promoters over five (5) years, with an initial budget of five (5) billion CFA francs, expandable to 34 billion CFA francs.
The Organization also reiterated the implementation:
- From a financing program for structuring projects based on intellectual property;
- The Master's in Patent Engineering, delivered in collaboration with the Félix Houphouët-Boigny National Polytechnic Institute (INP-HB) of Yamoussoukro, is intended to train many generations of African experts in the judicious use of technical and technological information contained in patent documents;
- A system of subsidies granted to patent applicants in order to further encourage the protection of inventions and.
- The biennial editions of an African Invention and Innovative Business Fair, the 10th of whichwill be held from October 5 to 7 in Niamey, Niger.
These various actions reflect OAPI's desire to make intellectual property not only a tool for protection, but also a real lever for value creation, investment and development.
Building an ecosystem conducive to innovation
The discussions highlighted the need for collective mobilization of public and private actors in order to create a more favorable environment for financing innovation.
For the Director General of OAPI, Denis L. BOHOUSSOU, the ambition goes beyond simply issuing industrial property titles. "When the Organization issues patents for inventions, it hopes that these patents will lead to the creation of businesses, and one of the bottlenecks is precisely the issue of financing. This is a problem that is very important to OAPI," he emphasized.
Banks, incubators, investors, public authorities and intellectual property offices have been called upon to strengthen their collaboration to enable African innovators to transform their ideas into successful businesses that create wealth and jobs.
More than just a legal framework for protection, intellectual property now appears as a strategic asset capable of strengthening the credibility of innovative projects and improving their access to funding opportunities.
An ambition for the future
Through the celebration of this 27th edition of JATPI, OAPI reaffirms its commitment to promoting an ecosystem in which African inventions and innovations are protected, valued and deserve ambitious funding.
In this way, she pays tribute to all the inventors, innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs and creators who, through their genius and audacity, contribute every day to building the Africa of tomorrow.
As the continent continues its economic and technological transformation, innovation remains one of the keys to meeting the challenges of sustainable development, competitiveness and job creation.
