Patent protection in Africa does not come from one system but from three: ARIPO, a regional office whose patents take effect in the member states you designate; OAPI, a single office and a single law for 17 mainly French-speaking countries; and national offices in key markets such as South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and Morocco. Choosing between ARIPO, OAPI and national filings depends on where you sell, where you manufacture and where your competitors operate. This guide is for European and Latin American companies planning the African leg of a patent portfolio.
Update (October 2026): the WIPO PCT Newsletter No. 07-08/2026 confirmed that, where OAPI is designated in a PCT application, the titles available are OAPI patents, certificates of addition, utility model certificates and certificates of improvement. It also reported that OAPI now sends notifications on international applications by email, no longer accepts filings by fax, accepts any agent registered to practise before it, and only asks for a copy of the international application when it has not received one from WIPO. The OAPI receiving-office transmittal fee has been XAF 50,000 since 1 January 2025.
Key takeaways
- OAPI is not optional in its territory: its 17 member states have no national patent systems, so one OAPI filing is the only route.
- ARIPO grants one patent for the states you designate, but each designated state has 4 months to declare that the patent will have no effect in its territory.
- South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt sit outside both regional systems and need national filings.
- Morocco and Tunisia accept validation of a European patent, which can be the cheapest way to cover North Africa from Europe.
- PCT national-phase deadlines vary: 30 months for OAPI, Nigeria, Egypt and Kenya; 31 months for ARIPO, South Africa and Morocco.
How does OAPI work?
OAPI (Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle) has its seat in Yaoundé and acts as the common industrial property office of its 17 member states in West and Central Africa and the Indian Ocean. Its own description of the system is explicit: there is a single law, the Bangui Agreement; a filing in any member state or with OAPI counts as a national filing in every member state; and no national protection systems coexist with the regional one. Enforcement belongs to the courts of each state, and a final court decision on validity in one member state is binding in the others, except on public order grounds.
Under the Bangui Agreement (Act of 14 December 2015), an OAPI patent expires at the end of the twentieth year following filing (Annex I, Article 8). Applications are published within 18 months and anyone may oppose the grant within three months of publication (Annex I, Article 20). Annex II provides utility model certificates for 10 years from filing. In the PCT, the OAPI states can only be designated for a regional patent: the national route is closed.
The practical consequence is simple. If your market includes Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon or any other OAPI state, there is no shortcut and no partial coverage: it is one title for all 17 or nothing.
How does ARIPO work?
ARIPO (African Regional Intellectual Property Organization) is based in Harare. Patents and utility models are governed by the Harare Protocol (2025 edition), which listed 20 contracting states at 1 January 2025, among them Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique and Cabo Verde.
- You designate the states you want and pay a designation fee for each (Section 32).
- ARIPO examines the application. When it decides to grant, each designated state has 4 months to tell the office that the patent will have no effect in its territory (Section 46 and Rule 53). The patent takes effect in the states that do not object (Section 48).
- If ARIPO or a designated state refuses, you can ask for the application to be treated as a national application in that state within the prescribed period.
- The ARIPO patent lasts 20 years from filing (Section 20); an ARIPO utility model, 10 years, after search and substantive examination (Sections 62 and 63).
- An applicant without residence or place of business in a contracting state must appoint a representative (Section 19), and infringement is enforced under national law (Section 22).
Unlike OAPI, ARIPO coexists with national offices. Apart from Eswatini, where the national PCT route is closed, you can still file nationally in ARIPO states, for example in Kenya or Ghana, if you need only one or two countries or want a national examination.
ARIPO, OAPI or national filings: comparison of routes
| Route | Coverage | How the title works | PCT national phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| OAPI | 17 states, mainly French-speaking West and Central Africa | One title, one law; no national alternative | 30 months |
| ARIPO | 20 Harare Protocol states (status 1 January 2025), mainly English-speaking East and Southern Africa | One grant; each designated state may refuse effect within 4 months | 31 months |
| National: South Africa | South Africa only | National patent; not a member of ARIPO or OAPI | 31 months |
| National: Nigeria, Egypt | One country each | National patent; outside both regional systems | 30 months |
| National: Kenya, Ghana | One country each | Alternative to designating them through ARIPO | 30 months |
| European patent validation | Morocco (since 1 March 2015), Tunisia (since 1 December 2017) | European patent validated after grant | Via EPO: 31 months |
Time limits are counted from the priority date and come from WIPO’s PCT national phase time limits table. Validation dates come from the EPO list of validation states, which also shows that Angola signed a validation agreement on 23 June 2026 whose implementation is still being finalised.
Which route fits which business?
For patent protection in Africa, ARIPO and OAPI only make sense measured against your actual markets. In practice, we see four typical profiles:
- Francophone West and Central Africa focus (agri-food, mining equipment, telecoms): OAPI is mandatory, and one filing covers all 17 states.
- East African distribution hub (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda): ARIPO usually wins on cost and administration once you need three or more states.
- Large single markets: South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt each require their own national filing, typically through the PCT national phase.
- North Africa from Europe: if you already file at the EPO, validating in Morocco and Tunisia avoids separate national prosecution there; Algeria still needs a national route.
Most portfolios end up as a combination: one OAPI title, one ARIPO patent with selected designations, and two or three national filings, all fed from a single PCT application and its priority.
What this means for your business
- Map markets before the 30-month mark: the cheapest decision is the one taken before national-phase fees fall due.
- Check where you manufacture and where competitors produce, not only where you sell: protection in a production country can stop goods at source.
- Plan ARIPO designations carefully; adding states is only possible before publication of the application.
- Budget for local representation: both ARIPO and the national offices require it for foreign applicants.
- Align Africa with your Europe and Latin America filings so priorities, claim sets and translations are prepared once.
If you need these routes coordinated with your European and Latin American filings, our team for international patent filing and PCT national phase management can build the African map as part of the same family.
Where companies get African patent filings wrong
- Treating ARIPO as automatic coverage. A designated state can declare that the patent has no effect there; the grant does not guarantee every country.
- Assuming an OAPI country can be covered nationally. It cannot: missing the OAPI filing means no protection in any of the 17 states.
- Forgetting South Africa, Nigeria or Egypt. They sit outside both regional systems, and a regional filing does nothing there.
- Mixing up deadlines. A portfolio with 30-month and 31-month offices needs one calendar, not several advisers each tracking their own.
- Ignoring enforcement. Regional titles are enforced in national courts, so evidence and local counsel must be lined up country by country.
Each of these errors is easier to prevent when one team holds the PCT application, the deadline calendar and the local correspondents.
Frequently asked questions
Can I protect a patent in an OAPI country without going through OAPI?
No. OAPI’s 17 member states share a single law, the Bangui Agreement, and have no national patent systems running alongside it. A filing in any member state counts as a filing in all of them, and in the PCT these states can only be designated for an OAPI patent. If one of them matters to you, you need the OAPI title.
Does an ARIPO patent cover all ARIPO countries?
No. You choose the states and pay a designation fee for each. When ARIPO decides to grant, every designated state has 4 months to declare that the patent will have no effect in its territory, for example because the subject matter is not patentable under its law. The patent then takes effect only in the states that have not objected.
Which African countries need a separate national patent filing?
The main ones are South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt, which are not part of ARIPO or OAPI. Algeria also needs a national route. Morocco and Tunisia can be reached by validating a European patent, and Kenya or Ghana can be covered either nationally or by designating them in an ARIPO application.
Can IP Global Guard handle our African patent filings?
Yes. We design the route map, prepare the PCT national phase and coordinate qualified local agents before ARIPO, OAPI and the national offices, so the African filings run on the same calendar and strategy as your European and Latin American family, with one point of contact.
How IP Global Guard can help with your African portfolio
A sound African patent strategy is mostly a matter of mapping markets to routes early and keeping one calendar. IP Global Guard, the IP services line of META Channel Corporation Limited, coordinates patent portfolios across more than 25 jurisdictions in Europe, Latin America and Africa with one strategy and one billing relationship; see our coverage across the corridor.
Send us your priority application, your PCT deadline and the African countries where you sell, manufacture or face competitors. We will recommend the mix of OAPI, ARIPO and national filings and coordinate it from a single point of contact. Ask our patent team for an African route map.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not replace an assessment of your specific case.
Sources
- OAPI, How the system works (consulted 2026)
- OAPI, Bangui Agreement, Act of 14 December 2015
- ARIPO, Harare Protocol on Patents, Utility Models and Industrial Designs (2025 edition)
- WIPO, PCT national phase entry time limits
- EPO, Validation states
- WIPO, PCT Newsletter No. 07-08/2026 (July/August 2026)
