The Congolese Minister of Industrial Development and Private Sector Promotion, Antoine Thomas Nicéphore Fylla Saint Eudes, was elected current President of the Board of Directors of the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), with the key to organizing the 65th ordinary session in December 2025 in Brazaville
The Republic of Congo will be replaced in the exercise of its task by Côte d’Ivoire, which will ensure the vice-presidency of the Board of Directors of Oapi. This emerges from the 64th ordinary session, held recently in Bangui, Central African Republic. “This new leadership will be responsible for implementing the general policy defined by the Board of Directors. The holding of the next session in Brazzaville marks an important step for Congo, offering it the opportunity to highlight its commitment to intellectual property on the African continent ,” states a press release from the Congolese Ministry in charge of Industry.
Chaired by the Central African Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Thierry Patrick Akoloza, the session allowed participants to make a number of commitments, including that of supporting the structuring projects of the Member States focused on the valorization of intellectual property. A review of the system of subsidizing patent and utility model fees is also planned.
Participants in the 64th session of the OAPI Board of Directors also approved the financial statements for the 2023 financial year, showing total assets of 28,127,538,930 FCFA and a result awaiting allocation of 1,188,522,611 FCFA. Adopted at 12,442,705,630 FCFA, the 2025 budget provides 10,142,640,908 FCFA for operating expenses and 1,999,041,409 FCFA for investments. All this with a surplus of 301,019,313 FCFA.
The session of the Board of Directors was preceded by the meeting of experts which brought together some forty representatives of the seventeen member states of Oapi. “The mandate of the Central African Republic as President of the Board of Directors is coming to an end. It is therefore wise to organize the Board of Directors in the country holding the presidency to take stock of the year’s activities and plan for the year to come. One of the major events of the next Council will be the handover to the Republic of Congo ,” recalled the outgoing President of the Board of Directors of Oapi, at the opening of the experts’ work, Thierry Patrick Akoloza.
