Keeping the blue economy on Africa’s agenda

Moving the continent forward

KENYA: Despite some mixed reviews with social media posts highlighting incidents of disorganisation at this week’s Africa Forward Summit hosted jointly by France and Kenya – the final declaration from the event includes substantive recognition of the continued importance of the blue economy to foster economic growth and sustainability on the continent.

With ambitions to attract 2,500 participants, the Summit ultimately accommodated more than 7,000 individuals as well as 700 business over the two days. It was perhaps this massive interest that resulted in posted social media content that shows high-level delegates frustrated at being shut out of plenary sessions.

Nevertheless, the event brought together heads of state, business leaders, international financial institutions and development partners from most of Africa’s dominant economies. Interestingly, as one of the top two financial powers on the continent, the absence of an official South African government delegation from the proceedings was pronounced.

Africa’s blue economy was the focus of one of four roundtable discussions held on Tuesday afternoon as well as one of the seven official themes guiding engagement throughout the Summit.

According to the official programme, the roundtable was structured to frame discourse around moving Africa from “sea blindness” to a value creating, investment-driven and climate-aligned blue economy. The session aimed to produce concrete, time-bound commitments that strengthened the Nairobi Declaration on Sustainable Ocean Partnership and Blue Growth, produced announcement-ready initiatives, and established a credible implementation pathway for 2026-2030.

In addition, the Summit sought to connect continental frameworks, including the Africa Blue Economy Strategy, AIMS 2050, Agenda 2063 and the Lomé Charter, with France’s maritime science, digitalisation, governance and decarbonisation strengths, translating political ambition into bankable and deliverable outcomes.

Six strategic objectives formed the basis of the session:

1. Ocean science
2. Maritime digitalisation and systems modernisation
3. Sustainable fisheries and blue food systems
4. Innovative blue finance
5. Seafarer mobility and maritime skills
6. Integration of maritime security and economic development

Kenya, Senegal, Mauritius, Nigeria, Seychelles, Mozambique and Namibia provided the official voice of Africa’s blue ambitions as participants in the roundtable.

Representing the interests of Seychelles, Vice-President Sebastian Pillay called on African nations to realise the untapped potential of the blue economy. He challenged African leaders to move beyond the export of raw materials and build the governance structures, industries, and financing systems needed to make this a reality.

Emphasising the importance of finance, Pillay noted that these ambitions, however, were not possible without clear and dedicated blue finance mechanisms. “The blue economy must be economically viable and environmentally responsible,” he added.

Representatives from the African Development Bank as well as Afreximbank also participated in the roundtable, giving weight to conversations around finance. The Summit as a whole concluded to back a pan-African guarantee mechanism designed to unlock investment, lower the cost of capital and accelerate job creation across the continent.

Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu also participated in the high-level discussions during the roundtable where he too was upfront about positioning the blue economy as one of the “cornerstones” of Africa’s development.

“Today, I make an explicit commitment: Nigeria will intensify regional coordination by offering our Deep Blue Project’s maritime intelligence infrastructure as a shared data hub for willing Gulf of Guinea states. Interoperable systems, harmonised laws, and seamless joint enforcement must become the daily reality, not an aspiration on paper,” he said.

Speaking about the imperative to attract investment, the Nigerian president emphasised the importance of maritime sovereignty and security. “Secure sea lanes, predictable regulation, and functional courts are the preconditions that unlock private capital. Governance has de-risked Nigeria’s maritime proposition. We now invite partners to build on these gains as we advance climate-aligned port modernisation and the digital transformation of our maritime sector,” he said.

“As we endorse the Nairobi Declaration, Nigeria affirms that maritime sovereignty and ocean governance are the non-negotiable foundations of Africa’s Blue Economy transformation. We will continue to earn that sovereignty — through institutions, through assets, through law, and through iron-clad regional solidarity that turns our waters from a theatre of risk into a story of shared resilience,” he added.

Alluding to the need for financing, Tinubu added that Africa needs to strive for industrialisation. “Nigeria is not asking for charity. We are demanding a financial system that intentionally enables Africa to industrialise — to process its own minerals, refine its own crude oil, manufacture its own pharmaceuticals, and compete fairly in global markets. We will continue to borrow responsibly, but we insist that our creditworthiness be measured by our economic fundamentals and our industrial potential, not by outdated stereotypes,’’ he noted.

Setting out three priorities, Vice-President Pillay said that these remained non-negotiable for Africa’s drive to benefit from the blue economy. He called for inclusive value chains to ensure that no coastal communities were left behind; for African-led ocean data systems to manage marine resources and for an emphasis on low-carbon maritime infrastructure where a just transition does not expect the most vulnerable to bear the heaviest costs.

Ultimately, the roundtable established the need for strategic partnerships that allow African nations to seize opportunities. Emphasising the need for urgency, participants pronounced the present as Africa’s “ocean moment”.

Blue economy declaration

The Summit’s official declaration included weighty ambitions for the blue economy – many of which have been well-articulated at national and regional level for close to two decades. The commitment from the event to promote a sustainable blue economy that is grounded in climate resilience, economic transformation and inclusivity may seem like familiar rhetoric to many. Real implementation and visible development that drives economic inclusivity must follow.

The last paragraph of the declaration calls for a “structured cooperation that strengthens maritime sovereignty, secures resilient trade corridors, accelerates the low-carbon transition, safeguards blue carbon ecosystems, and sustains the ocean as a source of shared prosperity for present and future generations”.

PHOTO: Source – Nigerian Presidency press releases.

Enough is enough!