On 14 November 2023, the AfrIPI Project organised a restitution workshop in Nouakchott, Mauritania on the geographical indication (GI) ‘Poutargue Imraguen’, in collaboration with the African Intellectual Property Organisation (OAPI).

The hybrid workshop was organised with the support of the Delegation of the European Union in Mauritania (DUE), OAPI National Liaison Structure, and Imraguen women processors. National and international authorities were also present, along with civil society associations.

The African Union Commission and the European Commission co-hosted the 3rd AU EU Agriculture Ministerial Conference, which was held in the FAO premises in Rome on the 21st June 2019.

La contribution des indications géographiques (IG) au développement durable de l’Afrique se présente désormais plus qu’une évidence. D’ailleurs son importance a été démontrée au cours de ces deux jours de table ronde organisée conjointement par l’OAPI, l’ARIPO et l’OMPI à Yaoundé, sur le thème « Les indications géographiques en Afrique : enjeux de développement territorial, d’intégration économique et de commerce ».

As one of the three pilot projects for the development and protection of GIs in Africa, the Consultative Committee for the Continental Strategy for Geographical Indications is launching the mock-up of the future Pan African Geographical Indications information hub. This would enable the visualisation, probing and testing of the functionality of the platform to be developed in the future, before it made accessible to the general public. 

As identified by the Consultative Committee for the Continental Strategy for Geographical Indications in Africa, the EUIPO is supporting the identification to a set of pilot projects for the development and protection of new GIs from Africa, and more concretely from ARIPO Member States. The purpose of the assignment is to identify and assess potential GIs, providing details on the respective qualities linked to the geographical origin, the local resources mobilised and production processes involved.

As identified by the Consultative Committee for the Continental Strategy for Geographical Indications in Africa, the EUIPO organized a targeted training activity on GIs in cooperation with OAPI, called “Training by Action: Madd de Casamance”.

The main objectives of this training were to reinforce the capacities of the actors of the value chain of a potential GI, called Madd of Casamance, to the problematic of the “cahier de charges” of a GI product and to help them to structure a GI group owner, such as a GI association.

On 29 March 2019, ‘the Consultative Committee for the Continental strategy for Geographical Indications in Africa’ ,during its second meeting in Essaouira, Morocco decided to launch three new initiatives as part of the implementation of the ‘African Union Continental strategy for Geographical Indications (GIs) in Africa 2018-2023’.

La Task Force pour l’Afrique rurale, créée en mai 2018 par la Commission de Bruxelles pour formuler des conseils sur le renforcement du partenariat Afrique-Europe dans les domaines de l’alimentation et de l’agriculture, a remis son rapport final le 7 mars 2019.

À moyen et long terme, le rapport de la Task Force recense quatre domaines d’action stratégiques :

The ’AU Continental strategy for Geographical Indications in Africa 2018-2023’ was adopted by the African Union in October 2017 and endorsed as a specific deliverable of the AU-EU Summit in November 2017.

Through the development of GIs, this strategy aims to develop rural areas in Africa, preserve heritage and tradition, while helping farmers and producers in Africa to gain added-value for their quality products. It is implemented at the African, regional and national level.