Sierra Leone Hosts 4th ARIPO Heads of Intellectual Property Offices Conference
By: James Kamara-Manneh
Sierra Leone has hosted the 4th Heads of Intellectual Property Offices Conference (HIPOC) for ARIPO Member States, bringing together top officials and stakeholders from across Africa to discuss the future of intellectual property (IP) on the continent.
The three-day conference, held at the Radisson Blu Mammy Yoko Hotel in Freetown, was themed “Empowering Tomorrow’s Innovators: Transformative Leadership and Intellectual Property.” It was organized by the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice in collaboration with the Office of the Administrator and Registrar General.
Chairperson of the conference, Madam Saptieu E. Saccoh, highlighted Sierra Leone’s progress in IP development and praised the country’s growing role in regional IP advancement since joining the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) in 1980.
Delivering the keynote address, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Alpha Sesay, emphasized Africa’s need to shift from being consumers to creators of innovation. “Africa must transition from being consumers of innovation to becoming its architects,” Sesay said, calling for bold reforms and greater investment in IP systems.
He outlined Sierra Leone’s strategic agenda, including reforms to modernize IP laws, enhance institutional capacity, and strengthen partnerships with ARIPO and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). He also addressed challenges such as counterfeiting and the misappropriation of traditional knowledge, urging harmonized legal frameworks and digital transformation.
ARIPO Director General Bemanya Twebaze lauded Sierra Leone’s leadership in IP development and its potential to contribute significantly to Africa’s innovation ecosystem. He underscored the importance of preparing for emerging technologies, warning that their benefits “will only go to those ready to harness them.”
Administrator and Registrar General, Ms. Martina Baindu Egbanda, stressed the role of transformative leadership in integrating IP into national development strategies. She showcased homegrown innovations supported by the government and international partners, including digitization projects and local inventor initiatives.
Minister of Communications Technology and Innovation, Madam Salima Bah, projected the continent’s digital economy could reach $712 billion and create 230 million jobs by 2030. She highlighted Sierra Leone’s National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Strategy (NIES) and emphasized the need for regional cooperation to protect and monetize African creativity.
Minister of Trade and Industry, Alpha Ibrahim Sesay, reiterated the importance of inclusive IP policies, calling IP “a strategic driver of trade, innovation, and cultural identity.”
The conference concluded with a unified call for regional collaboration, leadership, and the institutionalization of IP in Africa’s economic development agenda.
