Africa's blue economy: Opportunities and challenges to bolster sustainable development and socioeconomic transformation

The present Issues Paper aims at analysing how African countries can utilize the opportunities in the Blue Economy to bolster sustainable development and socioeconomic transformation. Agenda 2063 of the African Union declares the Blue Economy to be “Africa’s future” and recognizes the key role that the ocean plays as a catalyst for socioeconomic transformation. The paper examines the opportunities and challenges to developing the Blue Economy in Africa. It provides recommendations on how to transform these challenges into opportunities for growth, sustainable development and socioeconomic transformation.

Sustainable development is the “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs”.1 The interconnectedness of the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers calls for a holistic approach when it comes to how the global community should approach the Blue Economy. This, however, does not exclude the fact that each continent and each country has its own challenges and potentialities for development, depending on the natural resources embedded in its oceans, lakes and rivers.

This paper is an introduction to some of the discussions that will be taking place during the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference, from 26 to 28 November 2018 in Nairobi on the overarching theme of “the Blue Economy and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

At the request of the Government of Kenya, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has prepared this paper on the opportunities and challenges for the development of the Blue Economy in Africa. It is hoped that the paper will contribute to and inform commitments to be made by various countries and stakeholders in making use of the opportunities in the Blue Economy. It is also expected that world leaders will take advantage of this opportunity to refresh the sustainability debate and adopt concrete and meaningful actions for the sustainable development of the Blue Economy.