GI products such as figs, pepper and olive oil grow under cooperation between the EU and Africa

The Africa Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation Project (AfrIPI) is an international cooperation project funded and directed by the European Union (EU), co-founded, and implemented by the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), that aims to facilitate intra-African trade and African and European investment.

Specifically, the project’s objectives are to create, protect, utilise, administer and enforce IP rights (IPRs) across Africa, in line with international and European best practices and in support of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the African Union´s Agenda 2063.

On August 26, 2021, the AfrIPI was officially launched during an Africa Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) Diplomatic Conference, held in Kampala, Uganda.

AfrIPI is a five-year EU-funded international cooperation project of €17 million ($18.7 million) that involves the collaboration of African governments, regional IP organisations, academia, and the private sector, to create, promote and protect IP in Africa.

The pillars of AfrIPI can be summarised as the following: