Open AIR Research
Open AIR is a unique collaborative network of researchers spread across 22 African countries, Canada, and elsewhere in the world, answering two overarching questions:
mAke Project Completes Year 1
By Chris Armstrong
The EU-funded African European Maker Innovation Ecosystem (mAkE) project has now completed its first year of operation. Open AIR is one of several project consortium members (see listing below) for the initiative, which began in February 2022 and runs until January 2025. The...
WIPO-IGC 45: Bold and Strategic Moves Toward TK and TCE Text(s)
By Chidi Oguamanam
Buoyed by the July 2022 WIPO 62nd General Assembly decision that endorsed a Diplomatic Conference on Genetic Resources (GR) and Associated Traditional Knowledge, delegates to the 45th Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) continued negotiations on the TK and TCEs texts. On December 5-9, 2022,...
Opportunities from Côte d’Ivoire on Plastic Waste and the Blue Economy
By Ahou Rachel Koumi
In 2019, my niece and I enjoyed a two-day outing to the famous beaches of Assinie, in Côte d'Ivoire. I have fond memories of swimming in the ocean when I was younger so I invited my niece. Once there, the sheer number...
WIPO-IGC 43: Logjam Over Two Genetic Resources Texts
By Chidi Oguamanam, cross-posted from ABS Canada
Last Meeting on the GR Text Under the 2022-23 Biennium
May 30-June 3, 2022: Delegates met in-person and virtually at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva to resume the second round of negotiations for the 2022-23 biennium...
Pourquoi la nouvelle proposition sur l’accès aux vaccins est-elle insuffisante ?
Par Abdelhamid Benhmade
Enfin, une nouvelle proposition sur la vaccination gratuite et universelle est en discussion à l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC). L'Afrique du Sud, les États-Unis, l'Inde et l’Union européenne en sont venus à un accord de principe sur la dérogation aux droits de...