Bibliographie sélective OHADA

This thesis discusses jurisdiction to tax cross-border digital commerce. The primary objective is to consider the reasons for the erosion of jurisdictional links, or nexus, between countries and taxpayers' digital activities and evaluate possible solutions for addressing such nexus erosion. Whilst it is argued that digital commerce is impossible to ring-fence due to digital technologies transcending all industries, the main focus of this research is on automated business models as case studies for the broader tax issues applicable across the entire digital economy. Using cloud computing, online advertising and e-tailing models as examples of digital commerce in the narrow sense, this thesis demonstrates that the proxies for establishing jurisdictional nexus have become increasingly fluid, thereby challenging the traditional international tax regimes for profits and consumption taxation. Numerous policy solutions have been proposed in order to rectify nexus erosion, including global and territorial tax models. Unlike the previous research in this area, this thesis focuses on the nexus elements of such proposals and assesses their viability in the light of the wider Internet governance jurisprudence. Global tax solutions, such as global e-commerce taxes and formulary apportionment, are analysed in the context of the international governance regime for the technical Internet infrastructure. Territorial virtual tax solutions, such as virtual permanent establishments, withholding taxes and destination cash flow taxes, are considered in the light of the Internet jurisprudence on the 'effects' and 'targeting' nexus standards. It is argued that, given the lack of technical and political infrastructure, none of the proposed routes would be viable from a practical perspective in the near future. It is concluded, therefore, that a practical solution would involve retaining the traditional profits and consumption tax models, whilst testing a narrow version of the digital targeting nexus standard as a backstop anti-abuse measure. It is envisaged that the limited anti-avoidance provision would subsequently pave the way for a comprehensive long-term solution, as digitisation continues to transform global commerce.

Anonim şirket pay sahiplerinin temel amacı, şirkete koydukları sermaye karışlığında kâr elde etmek ve bu elde ettikleri kârı artırmaktır. Kâr dağıtımı ve şartları genel olarak Türk Ticaret Kanunu'nda düzenlenmiş olup, uygulamada da kâr dağıtımı bu düzenlemelere göre yapılmaktadır. Ancak vergi kanunlarında ve uygulamasında, Ticaret Kanunu'ndaki bu düzenlemeler dışındaki bazı ödemeler için de "örtülü kâr" nitelendirmesi yapılmıştır. Örtülü kâr dağıtımı konusu, genellikle vergi hukukçuları tarafından ele alınan bir konu olup, bu konu şimdiye kadar kâr payının temel unsurlarının düzenlendiği ticaret hukuku açısından detaylı olarak ele alınmamıştır. Bu nedenle hem vergi kanunları, hem de Türk Ticaret Kanunu kapsamında kâr dağıtımının, hangi hallerde örtülü olduğunun ele alınması gerekmektedir. Bunun yanında Sermaye Piyasası Kanunu'nda örtülü kâr dağıtımına benzer uygulamaların olup olmadığı ve halka açık anonim şirketler açısından konunun öneminin de ortaya konulması, meselenin daha net ele alınmasını sağlayacaktır. Çalışmamızda bu amaca yönelik tespitler yapılmış olup, konu tüm yönleri ile ele alınmıştır. İncelemelerimiz sonucunda; vergi kanunlarında "örtülü kâr" olarak nitelendirilen haksız menfaat ödemelerinin, Ticaret Kanunu'ndaki "kâr payı" düzenlemeleri ile açıkça çeliştiğini değerlendirmekteyiz. Bu nedenle vergi güvenliği amacıyla yapılmış da olsa "örtülü kâr dağıtımı" nitelendirmesinin ticaret hukuku genel ilkeleri ile çeliştiği tespitinde bulunduk. Çalışmamızda bu değerlendirmenin gerekçelerini ortaya koymaya gayret ettik. The principal purpose of the shareholders in a joint-stock company is to get profit in consideration of the capital provided and to increase the level of such profit. The profit distribution and the relevant conditions are defined in the Turkish Commercial Law in general and the profit distribution in practice is performed according to these stipulations. However, there is the term i.e. "concealed profit" for some payments in the tax laws and practice apart from these stipulations in the Commercial Law. The concealed profit distribution is a subject that is generally handled by the tax jurists and this subject has not been studied in detail so far in terms of trade law where the main factors of the dividend are defined. For this reason, it is necessary to study on the cases where the profit distribution is deemed ad "concealed" within the scope of both tax laws and Turkish Commercial Law. Besides, whether there are similar practices to the concealed profit distribution in the Capital Markets Law and putting forward the importance of this subject in terms of the public joint-stock companies will enable to handle the subject more clearly. The determinations for this purpose are provided in our study and this subject is handled in all aspects. As a result of our analysis, we have revealed that the unjust interest payments characterized as "concealed profit" in the tax laws are clearly in conflict with the stipulations of "dividend" in the Commercial Law, and therefore, "concealed profit distribution" conflicts with the general principles of trade law even though it is performed for tax safety. We have tried to put forward the justifications of this evaluation in our study.

S'interroger sur l'attractivité de l'hypothèque maritime en France suppose de la mettre en contact avec le mortgagede droit anglais (Partie I). Dès lors, à l'issue de l'étude de l'hypothèque conviendra-t-il de s'interroger sur l'opération de fiducie-sûreté appliquée au financement de navire (Partie II).

Using e-books as a case study, this thesis considers whether the principle of equal treatment could play a role in driving more consistent and rational regulation of markets where content is available in both tangible and intangible formats. At present, although the content is the same, these formats are often subject to different rules. This difference in treatment has opened up discussions about whether current legal frameworks should be amended and in these discussions actors with very different standpoints have consistently invoked the language of equality to justify their varied stances. However, in these discussions there is no clear elaboration of what equality means or how it can be used, leading to abstract debates and eventually to arbitrary decisions. The thesis attempts to fill this gap by building a framework based on outcome equality to decide if intangible book formats should be treated ‘like’ tangible ones. It uses the objective underlying the existing rule as the standard for establishing likeness or difference and advocates that functional equality, rather than formal equality, is desirable because this takes account of the differences in the functionalities between content formats: Intangibility impacts on the functioning of the rule in question (e.g. quantitatively increased ease of circulation and copying) and it is only if these impacts can be neutralized that functional equality can be achieved. The framework is applied to the case studies of copyright exhaustion, reduced rates of VAT and fixed book pricing. These have been chosen in recognition of the range of decision-making powers between the national and EU levels in this cultural sector. Overall, the analysis shows that rationality can be inserted by using equal treatment as a guide, but that consistency is more difficult to achieve given the interaction between national and EU influences in the book market.

Dans un contexte socio-économique dominé par la rapidité et la complexité des échanges, le sort du contractant est très souvent déterminé par sa position de vulnérabilité. Quelles formes prend cette vulnérabilité ? Quelles sont les idéologies, les valeurs et les critères de justice à partir desquels les mesures protectrices ont été édictées et mises en œuvre ? Ceux-ci tiennent-ils adéquatement compte de la vulnérabilité des parties ? Quelle place lui réservent les différentes réponses apportées par le droit des contrats ? Telles sont les questions sur lesquelles porte la présente étude sur la justice contractuelle dont l’objectif est de procéder à une analyse critique des fondements de la protection de la partie vulnérable. Ces derniers ne révèlent pas nécessairement l’existence d’une logique d’ensemble. Dans une perspective idéaliste, la moralité contractuelle et l’utilité économique du contrat sont les bases sur lesquelles la protection de la partie vulnérable a été envisagée. Appréhendée sur un plan individuel, la vulnérabilité du contractant repose sur l’idée d’une justice essentiellement réparatrice. Celle-ci est axée sur le respect de la bonne foi contractuelle et sur le désir de donner à chacune des parties les moyens de défendre ses intérêts. C’est donc de manière exceptionnelle que la vulnérabilité sera prise en compte. En réaction aux limites d’une protection faisant de l’existence d’un comportement fautif la condition de l’octroi de la protection, une vision réaliste de la sauvegarde des intérêts légitimes du contractant vulnérable a été mise de l’avant. Elle prend appui sur la dimension collective de la vulnérabilité du contractant. Il en résulte un régime de protection fondé sur la notion de relation et sur une conception objective de la justice. Toute chose qui se traduit soit par une protection technico-formaliste, soit par l’idée de solidarité faisant du contrat le lieu d’une communauté d’intérêts. Cependant, cette approche du contrat n’intègre pas forcément l’importance du rôle réservé à la volonté, ni les diverses catégories de contrats.

The failure by Sothern African Development Community (SADC) countries to fully implement the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communications and Meteorology (the Protocol) and bilateral agreements in regard to road transport negatively impacts the seamless movement of cross border road transport and significantly contributes to the challenges faced by the cross border industry as a whole. The full implementation of the Protocol in regard to road transport, and bilateral agreements would lead to efficient cross border transport regulation and transportation and in turn culminate in reduction of challenges facing the sector. This would lead to reduction of transportation costs, improvement in productivity, and accelerated growth in intra-regional trade, regional economic integration and overall SADC socio-economic development. This paper outlines the extent to which the provisions of the Protocol and bilateral agreements have been implemented by SADC countries and the key challenges emanating from the partial operationalisation of the instruments. The paper is based on findings from engagements with key government and private sector stakeholders in the regional transport environment and various research conducted by the C-BRTA between 2011 and 2014. The partial operationalisation of the instruments has resulted in disjointed regulatory frameworks and inability to: holistically address corridor constraints/ non-tariff barriers, facilitate seamless cross border movements, facilitate liberalisation of access to transport markets in the region, harmonise standards and procedures, and facilitate economic growth and trade between SADC countries. It is possible for the SADC region to realise the aspirations set out in the Protocol and bilateral agreements, and this paper outlines some of the solutions. To begin with, there is need for SADC countries to embrace the need to eradicate the existing self-centric regulatory approach limited to micro-needs and market protectionism. This would need to be underpinned by strong orientation towards the need to achieve macro benefits emanating from a regional perspective in regard to regulating cross border road transport movement. Taking off from this departure point, SADC countries can objectively establish a solid ground towards fully operationalising the Protocol and bilateral agreements. This paper outlines some of the interventions that can be implemented to ensure SADC countries fully operationalise the provisions of the Protocol on transport and bilateral agreements.

Cet article teste l’hypothèse de la gouvernance comme facteur de performance des PME via une analyse multidimensionnelle. Des données d’enquête auprès de 300 PME camerounaises permettent de construire un indice de qualité de gouvernance (IQG) avec 39 variables des mécanismes de gouvernance spécifiques aux PME. Au moyen des modèles économétriques, l’IQG est confronté à trois indicateurs de la performance : le chiffre d’affaires, la création d’emplois et la pérennité. Les résultats révèlent un IQG moyen égal à 0,473 avec un écart-type de 0,231, sur une échelle allant de 0 à 1. Par ailleurs, il existe une relation positive et significative entre l’IQG et les indicateurs de performance retenus, ce qui montre que les pratiques de gouvernance déployées au sein des PME améliorent leur performance. En effet, une amélioration unitaire dans l’IQG induit une augmentation plus proportionnelle du chiffre d’affaires de la PME. De même, la probabilité moyenne prédite pour qu’une PME crée des emplois est majorée de 24,76 %, suite à une amélioration unitaire de l’IQG. Enfin, la variation unitaire de l’IQG rallonge de 3 ans l’âge moyen des PME de l’échantillon qui est de 8,5 ans. This article tests the hypothesis of governance as a performance factor of SMEs by means of a multidimensional analysis. Data obtained from a survey of 300 cameroonian SMEs enabled the structuring of a Governance Quality Index (GQI) with 39 SMEs-specific governance mechanism variables. Making use of econometric models, the GQI is tallied against three performance indicators : turnover, job creation, and sustainability. Results reveal a mean GQI of 0,473 with a standard deviation of 0,231 on a scale of 0 to 1. Moreover, there is a positive and significant link between GQI and the performance indicators, which shows that governance practices implemented within SMEs improve their performance. In effect, a unit improvement in the GQI triggers a more proportionate increase in the turnover of the SME. Likewise, the mean probability of a SME creating jobs is increased by 24,76 % following a unit improvement of the GQI. Finally, the mean age of 8,5 in our simple is extended by 3 years further to the unit variation of the GQI. Este artículo testa la hipótesis de la gobernación como factor de resultado de las PyMEs vía un análisis multidimensional. Datos de encuesta cerca de 300 camerunesas permiten construir un Índice de Cualidad de Gobernación (ICG) con 39 variables de los mecanismos de gobernación específicos a las PyMEs. Por modelos econométricos, el ICG se enfrenta con tres indicadores de resultado : el volumen de negocias, la creación de empleos y perennidad. Los resultados revelan un ICG medio equivalente a 0,473 con una raíz cuadrada de variación de 0,231 ; sobre una escala de 0 hasta 1. Por otra parte, existe una relación positiva y significativa entre el ICG y los indicadores de resultado seleccionado, lo que muestra que las prácticas de gobernación desplegadas dentro de las PyMEs mejoran su resultado. En efecto, un mejoramiento unitario en el ICG induce un aumento más proporcional del volumen de negocios de la PyME. Asimismo, la probabilidad media predicha para que una PyME cree empleos está sobrestimada de 24,76 % después de un mejoramiento unitario del ICG. Finalmente, la variación unitaria del ICG alarga de 3 años la edad media de los PyMEs de la muestra que es de 8,5 años.

Niger, Sénégal, Tchad, Togo, organise l'unification du droit des affaires et le règlement des litiges par une juridiction supranationale ainsi que la promotion de l'arbitrage. Les matières ci-après font l'objet d'actes uniformes : droit commercial général, sociétés et GIE, sûretés, procédures simplifiées de recouvrement et voies d'exécution, procédures collectives (faillite), arbitrage, comptabilité, transport de marchandises par route. D'autres projets sont en cours, notamment le droit des contrats, avec le concours d'une expertise tant africaine qu'internationale. Outre l'amélioration du climat des affaires, l'adhésion de la RDC à l'Ohada renforcera l'attractivité et satisfera l'objectif d'intégration régionale, clé du développement et de la paix en Afrique.

The Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) was established for the purpose of restoring legal and judicial security in the region to attract more investment. The OHADA Treaty included certain areas of business law within its ambit but omitted investment law. There are several laws on investment in the region at the national, regional and sub-regional level that regulate the treatment of foreign investments such as CEMAC and UEMOA investment charters. Moreover OHADA states sign BITs to protect foreign investments. The relationship between the different sub regional laws on investment and OHADA is not yet clear but case law suggests that CEMAC and UEMOA courts recognise the supremacy of OHADA law and their lack of competence to hear matters regulated under OHADA. The standards of protection granted by OHADA states in BITs are very high thus taxing on them. This thesis suggests that OHADA states should either qualify these standards of protection or replace them with more specific provisions. The OHADA system of arbitration cannot effectively settle investment disputes arising out of a BIT leaving international arbitration systems such as ICSID as the best alternative to resolve investment disputes arising out of BITs.

This paper explores the feasibility of commercial arbitration as a means to foster the process of Eastern Africa integration. The author proffers an argument in the context of Eastern Africa integration, that commercial arbitration offers a better platform for dealing with commercial disputes that are bound to arise considering the differing personal or state interests in the ongoing Eastern Africa integration, as compared to national Courts. This discourse is premised on the fact that the five member countries making up the East African Community (EAC) have different legal systems and this presents a major challenge in harmonising the various legal systems. This also affects the possible use of courts in managing the potential transnational commercial disputes due to the potentially different rules of procedure and practice. The paper briefly examines the state of commercial arbitration in the EAC Member States with a view to identifying the existing frameworks and any impediments in their effectiveness. Finally, the author makes a case for utilizing commercial arbitration to build bridges and foster Eastern Africa integration for development.

L’exercice d’une voie de droit oppose une partie en droit d’exiger le respect de sa prérogative et une autre devant répondre de son obligation. Alors, les intérêts en présence sont naturellement divergents, car chaque partie oeuvrera pour sortir triomphante du conflit. Ainsi, le risque d’en arriver à un abus est réel, et c’est ce qui justifie la sanction. Il ne faudrait pas que par l’exercice d’un droit, un justiciable soit lésé. Ses intérêts sont ainsi protégés par la modération de l’exécution des droits des uns et des autres. Par ailleurs, il ne faudrait pas, non plus, porter atteinte à l’intérêt des parties par un encadrement trop élastique de la notion d’abus. En effet, la sanction de l’exercice abusif d’une voie de droit peut dissuader les plaideurs. Ce serait, ainsi, violenter l’accès au droit, qui est fondamental dans la réalisation des droits subjectifs. La consécration de la loyauté permettrait d’éviter ces dérives.

Le silence côtoie indiscutablement le droit. Il s’agit d’un couple en interaction. Le silence saisit le droit à travers les silences du droit. Ces silences, justifiés par plusieurs raisons, sont protéiformes et source d’incertitude. Le droit essaie tant bien que mal de les combler quand il ne les génère pas lui-même. Par ailleurs, le droit appréhende le silence en tentant de le juridiciser. Entreprise perceptible à travers non seulement le droit au silence, mais aussi par l’imposition ou l’interdiction du silence selon les cas. Constatant la présence du silence, le droit l’interprète en lui octroyant ou non une portée juridique.

L’égalité des créanciers n’est pas un mythe ! Elle est bien présente dans les procédures collectives internationales OHADA et européenne. Cependant, et en dépit de l’uniformisation des procédures, l’OHADA, qui s’est inspiré du droit communautaire européen n’a pas pu endiguer les obstacles liés à la mise en oeuvre de ce principe dans les procédures collectives internationales. Ces obstacles bien que différents selon les espaces ont un point commun, celui de rendre plus difficile l’appréhension des actifs du débiteur situés en dehors de l’État d’ouverture de la procédure. Mais les solutions à ce problème peuvent plus facilement s’adapter à l’OHADA compte tenu de l’unicité du droit applicable dans l’espace OHADA.

This thesis identifies and defines the new African sovereignty. It establishes a modern sovereignty in Africa hatched from the changing nature of sovereignty in which countries come together at various levels or grades of partial surrender of national sovereignty in order to work closer together for their mutual advantage and benefit. To this end, the narrative zooms in on the central issues within the realms of money matters whereby a new model of monetary sovereignty and monetary solutions is designed in an attempt to ease the recurring tensions and challenges of modern national sovereignty in the continent of Africa. As such, this discussion will offer a historical journey through the constitution of sovereignty, to the birth of the nation state and international public law. It develops the theory of the changing nature of sovereignty within the modern state and opens new lines of inquiry for Africa. In this regard, it draws from juxtaposing and mixing elements of regional and global financial integration as well as retaining national financial sovereignty features to form this new design which I dub continental sovereignty. At its core, the thesis will deal with the legal aspects that stem from the co-mingling of legal systems of nation states and communities at the regional and global levels within the context of financial integration. The argument is that the rule of law remains sacrosanct in monetary management. Effective financial integration is the result of properly structured and managed legal frameworks with robust laws and institutions whether at a national, regional or global level. However, the thesis reveals that in order to avoid undermining the progress of Africa’s financial integration project, any solution for Africa must be immersed within a broader global solution where development issues are addressed and resolved and Africa can form a more central part in all relevant international discussion fora. The work will expound these issues by applying them within a regional and global context, with the state of affairs in Africa forming the nucleus. This application consequently presents the six key themes of the thesis which will be considered therein. They are: a.) regional advantage: which exploits the possibilities of deeper and further financial integration between smaller communal arrangements; b.) regional risk and exposure: the extent to which this deeper form of financial integration can spiral out of control if effected too quickly and too ambitiously; c.) global advantage: which considers the merits of global financial integration and the influence exerted by financial laws on the global financial architecture; d.) global risk and exposure: which considers the challenges of global financial integration especially within the background of the Global Financial Crisis 2007-2008; e.) African challenge: which considers the extent to which this analysis impacts the African economic and financial integration agenda; and f.) development challenge: which examines the extent to which global development issues impact the African solution (continental sovereignty) and the need for any solution for the continent to be roped into a broader global solution within which Africa can form an important part. Even though the thesis requests an optimistic undertone on the progress made so far, it unearths the African problem of multiple national sovereignty and multiple overlapping regional sovereignty constituted as the ‘spaghetti bowl’ dilemma. As such, the unique contribution to knowledge on financial integration in Africa can be echoed in these words: Africa‘s financial integration agenda has had little success in authenticating a systematic and dependable legal framework for monetary management. Efforts made have been incomplete, substandard, and not carefully followed through particularly reflected in the impuissant nature of the judicial enforcement mechanisms. Thus, the thesis argues that, any meaningful answer to the problems dogging the continent is inter alia deeply entrenched within a new form of cooperative monetary sovereignty. In other words, the thesis does not prescribe the creation of new laws; rather it advocates the effective enforcement of existing laws.

Nigeria industrial growth has turned the country into an indispensable economic support for its neighbours. Only for the case of Cameroon, Nigeria has been the leading supplier with respectively 22% and 17.8% of imports in 2011 and 2012 with trade amounting to 328 billion FCFA per annum. This results in part from Nigerian companies’ exportations in local markets. Nigerian trademarks related to cosmetics, furniture, electronics, and pharmaceutical goods abound in neighbouring countries. However, a strengthening of Nigerian companies in regional markets encompasses strategies to avoid infringing on the trademark rights. Such strategies should include the consideration of special trademarks features by different institutions of the intellectual property (IP) system in the relevant neighbour export markets. This is by the mere fact that the legal status of those goods, although physical property, relies mainly on the material law applicable, which is trademark in the present case. Because the principle of territoriality requires that trademark protection be sought in the place where the goods are sold—and trademark applications filed in each country in which protection is sought—, Nigerian companies planning to outsource some business activity in neighbour markets will seek compliance with trademarks norms applicable in the Organisation africaine de la propriété intellectuelle (OAPI) of which those countries—Benin, Cameroon, Chad, and Guinea—are part. The trade partnership between companies from a common law trademark background on one hand, and civil law intellectual property community on the other, inevitably raises some frictions and trademarks issues. This article analyses the trademark challenges arising from Nigerian companies’ business decision to enter OAPI markets and export goods and services. The article firstly underlines the issues to be taken into consideration, including registration and enforcement of the companies’ marks in OAPI. Then the paper simultaneously reviews the dissimilarities issues between the Nigerian Trademark Act and the OAPI Trademark System to which the Nigerian companies are confronted. If trademark protection makes it easier for an enterprise to access transnational markets, the establishment of a Trademark Community with neighbouring countries helps for sure national industries to establish partnerships with other firms for sustainable development in the areas such as production, marketing, distribution or delivery of goods and services. In light of the trademark harmonisation in the European Union internal market, the present paper concludes by recommending the creation of a Trademark Community in the West and Central African region between Nigeria and its neighbouring countries. La croissance industrielle du Nigeria a fait de ce pays un soutien économique indispensable pour ses voisins. Pour ne citer que l’exemple du Cameroun, le Nigeria en a été le principal fournisseur avec respectivement 22 % et 17,8 % des importations en 2011 et 2012 et des importations dont la valeur s’élève à 328 milliards fr. cfa par année. Ceci résulte en partie des exportations des compagnies nigérianes vers les marchés locaux. Les marques de commerce nigérianes dans le domaine des cosmétiques, des meubles et des produits électroniques et pharmaceutiques abondent dans les pays voisins. Cependant, le renforcement des compagnies nigérianes dans les marchés régionaux englobe des stratégies pour éviter d’enfreindre les droits de propriété industrielle et commerciale. Dans le cadre de ces stratégies, les différentes institutions qui régissent la propriété intellectuelle (PI) dans les marchés d’exportation des pays voisins pertinents devraient prendre en compte des caractéristiques particulières relatives aux marques de commerce. Ne serait-ce que du simple fait que le statut juridique de ces produits, bien qu’ils soient des biens physiques, repose principalement sur le droit substantiel applicable, le droit de la marque de commerce dans ce cas. Parce que le principe de territorialité nécessite que la protection de la marque de commerce soit demandée dans le territoire où les biens sont vendus, et que cette protection doit être demandée dans chaque pays individuellement, les compagnies nigérianes qui prévoient externaliser des activités commerciales dans des marchés voisins chercheront à se conformer aux normes en matière de marques de commerce qui sont applicables au sein de l’Organisation africaine de la propriété intellectuelle (OAPI), dont font partie le Bénin, le Cameroun, le Tchad et la Guinée. Le partenariat commercial entre des entreprises soulève inévitablement, et ce, tant du point de vue de la common law que celui du droit civil, des frictions et des problèmes lorsqu’il s’agit de marques de commerce. Le présent article analyse les défis relatifs aux marques de commerce découlant de la décision commerciale des entreprises nigérianes de faire leur entrée dans les marchés de l’OAPI et d’y exporter des biens et services. L’article souligne premièrement les problèmes qui doivent être pris en considération, dont l’inscription et la mise en application des marques des entreprises membres de l’OAPI. Ensuite, ce texte examine simultanément les problèmes résultant des différences entre la Nigerian Trademark Act et le système de marques de commerce de l’OAPI, système auquel les entreprises nigérianes sont confrontées. Si la protection des marques de commerce facilite l’accès aux marchés transnationaux pour les entreprises, la mise en place, avec les pays voisins, d’une communauté en matière de marques de commerce aide assurément les industries nationales à établir des partenariats avec d’autres entreprises dans le but d’assurer un développement durable dans des domaines tels que la production, la commercialisation, la distribution ou la livraison de biens et services. À la lumière de l’harmonisation des marques de commerce dans le marché intérieur de l’Union européenne, le présent article conclut en recommandant la création d’une communauté de marques de commerce dans la région de l’Afrique occidentale et centrale, et qui réunirait le Nigeria et ses pays voisins.

This thesis articulates an optimum framework for the protection of expressions of folklore in Africa using a number of African countries – South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria as case studies. This thesis argues that the existing sui generis and intellectual property rights protection in African countries are grossly inadequate in protecting expressions of folklore in these countries. An optimum framework for the protection of expressions of folklore would constitute a combination of the positive and negative protective model elaborated and implemented through a human and people's rights framework that recognises that communities that produce expressions of folklore should own and control how their intellectual property is protected. While a positive protective model explores how intellectual property rights such as copyright, trademarks, designs and performances may protect expressions of folklore through the endowment of such rights on communities, negative protective models examine how state and national competent authorities protect expressions of folklore on behalf of communities. An optimum framework for the protection of expressions of folklore recognises that regional and international perspectives are critical for the protection of folklore in third party countries and expressions of folklore that occur in contiguous countries. A regional perspective is important for Africa countries because of two regional intellectual property organisations in Africa (ARIPO – African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation) and OAPI (African Intellectual Property Organisation) that have established minimum standards for the protection of expressions of folklore. Norm setting and standards in international organisations such as WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation); UNESCO (United Nations Educational Cultural and Scientific Organisation); and the WTO (World Trade Organisation) significantly impact the protection of expressions of folklore in Africa. A human and peoples' rights framework explores how national and regional legal systems in Africa recognise entitlements of communities in the protection of the expressions of folklore they produce. In this regard, the normative framework of communities in terms of their customary law is also explored.