The African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) and its member states celebrate the 27th African Technology and Intellectual Property Day (JATPI), dedicated to promoting African inventiveness and innovation and enhancing intellectual property in the OAPI region.

Established in 1999 and commemorated annually on September 13th, this event raises awareness about technology, innovation, and intellectual property's role in economic, industrial, and social development. The 2026 celebration focuses on financing innovative Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through intellectual property asset valuation.

African innovation faces the challenge of financing

Despite their growth-driving potential and entrepreneurial dynamism, African innovative SMEs struggle significantly to access necessary bank loans for development. Patents, trademarks, and other intellectual property assets—constituting real economic wealth—remain insufficiently recognized as guarantee instruments or financial valuation tools.

OAPI addressed this by dedicating the 2026 September 13 celebration to mechanisms connecting innovation with financing and supporting project promoters.

A high-level panel to open the debates

On September 11, 2026, at OAPI's Yaoundé headquarters, a high-level panel convened key innovation ecosystem players discussing SME financing.

Contributions came from:

Ms. Mariette Bissene Moulongo, Technipole Incubator Coordinator at Yaoundé I University's National Higher Polytechnic School, highlighting the incubator's role in project maturation before funding searches.

Mr. Paul Ghislain Poum Bimbar, technology entrepreneur and TOGET TECH founder, noting: "The incubation process helped us develop our idea from virtual concept to marketable solution recognized as innovation through industrial property."

Mr. Guy Francis Boussafou, OAPI's Director of Patents and Technical Creations, representing the Industrial Property Office's comprehensive approach integrating incubators, accelerators, and banking sectors.

Mr. Kaje Nzali Virgile, Head of SME Department at Afriland First Bank Cameroon, emphasizing that business plans alone insufficiently guarantee bank support without proper preparatory processes.

Moderated by Moustapha Ramadan Nlend (OAPI's Publication, Documentation and Statistics Department Head), discussions enabled cross-disciplinary perspectives among innovators, support structures, financial institutions, and intellectual property specialists on innovative project bankability challenges.

OAPI presents its support mechanisms

OAPI highlighted several innovation-strengthening initiatives, particularly the Invention and Innovation Financing Mechanism, developed with the African Guarantee Fund (AGF), which guarantees bank loans while OAPI prepares companies for efficient funding reception. This mechanism targets 1,000 innovative project promoters over five years, with initial budgets of 5 billion CFA francs, expandable to 34 billion.

Additional implementations include:

Financing programs for structuring projects based on intellectual property.

Master's in Patent Engineering, delivered collaboratively with Félix Houphouët-Boigny National Polytechnic Institute, training African experts in patent document technological information utilization.

Patent applicant subsidy systems encouraging invention and innovation protection.

Biennial African Invention and Innovative Enterprise Fair editions, with the 10th occurring October 5-7 in Niamey, Niger.

These actions reflect OAPI's commitment to making intellectual property a protection tool and genuine value creation, investment, and development leverage.

Building an ecosystem conducive to innovation

Discussions emphasized collective mobilization of public and private actors creating favorable innovation financing environments.

According to OAPI Director General Denis L. Bohoussou, ambitions extend beyond issuing industrial property titles: "When the Organization issues patents for inventions, it hopes these patents create businesses, and financing represents a significant bottleneck—a problem very important to OAPI."

Banks, incubators, investors, public authorities, and intellectual property offices were called upon strengthening collaboration enabling African innovators transforming ideas into successful wealth and job-creating businesses.

Beyond legal protection frameworks, intellectual property now appears as strategic assets inspiring confidence, attracting investors, strengthening innovative project credibility, and improving financing access opportunities.

An ambition for the future

Through this 27th edition, OAPI reaffirms commitment promoting ecosystems where African inventions and innovations are protected, valued, and deserve ambitious funding.

The Organization honors all inventors, innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs, and creators contributing daily to building tomorrow's Africa.

As the continent undergoes economic and technological transformation, innovation remains key to addressing sustainable development, competitiveness, and job creation challenges.

Source: African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), 2026-09-15. Original: https://oapi.int/en/2026/09/15/african-day-of-technology-and-intellectual-property-2026-loapi-puts-intellectual-property-at-the-heart-of-financing-for-innovative-smes/