By Khalifa Hemed
Published July 21, 2019
If well tapped, oceans can be the engine of socio-economic development and industrialisation for many African countries.
Speaking during the 24th Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) of Southern Africa in the Mauritian city of Pointe Aux Piments, Auguste Ngomo of African Union noted that the continental body views the blue economy as the new frontier of African renaissance as it ‘opens doors for Africa’s industrialisation and economic development’.
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“Like the role played by charcoal and steam engines for the first industrial revolution or oil and electricity for the second, the exploitation of the ocean potentialities can lead us to our economic revolution. The potential of oceans, lakes, and rivers is unlimited,” Ngomo said.“We can be inspired by other nations and regions, learn and acquire experience from them but Africa must focus on its own path, on its own strengths and realities. Our evolution towards blue economy is an ambitious but achievable adventure.”
Ngomo stressed that the blue economy “moves us from an economy of harvests from limited resources to an economy of harvesting unlimited resources if we organise ourselves well. With the exploitation of unlimited resources come also sustainable financial means. But to approach this revolution we must completely change our perception.”
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Also stressing the immense potentials of the water-based economy in fostering industrial growth and economic development to senior policy-makers, leading practitioners and experts, private sector operators, civil society, regional and international development agencies and development financial institutions attending the meeting was Said Adejumobi, Southern Africa Director of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
“The maritime industry is estimated at over US$1 trillion, and there are other related and emerging sectors of tourism, offshore renewable energy, aquaculture, seabed extractive industries, marine biotechnology and bio prospecting,” Adejumobi said.
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Observing that Africa’s coastal sector remains largely underdeveloped, under-utilised, and poorly governed, which has enabled other forces from outside the continent to benefit more from it at the expense of Africans, Adejumobi cited a report of the Economist Intelligence Unit that shows that “the ocean economy contributed US$962 billion or 10 % of [China’s] GDP and employed over 9 million people in 2014. In the United States of America, the ocean economy was valued at about US$258 billion or 1.8% of its GDP in 2010, and in Indonesia, the ocean economy contributed about 20% of its GDP which is similar to the ratio of other middle income oceanic countries”.
While other countries and regions are harvesting the gains and returns from the blue economy, Adejumobi noted that West Africa is estimated to be losing about US$2 billion annually from illegal fishing.
He however said said that not all was lost as some Southern African countries have adopted strategic plans and development blueprints to transform their blue economy sector.
While South Africa, for example, hopes to grow its blue economy sector from 54 billion Rands and 316 000 jobs in 2010 to 177 billion Rands and about 1 million jobs by 2033 and Seychelles has developed a National Blue Economy Roadmap through which it seeks to accelerate economic growth and diversification, Mauritius has Vision 2030, which provides an overall development framework, including on the blue economy sector.
However, Adejumobi said, the blue economy sector is very complex and dynamic, with various challenges and risks which require more of collective action, cooperation, partnerships and regional frameworks in order to address them.
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He cited some of the challenges and risks associated with of the blue economy as issues of governance and security of the ocean, piracy and terrorism, climate change, ocean environmental sustainability, poor infrastructure and technology, effective production connectivity with land-linked and land-locked countries, financing, and poor technical skills and capacity.
He called upon governments to do more at the regional level in the transformation of the blue economy sector through an integrated and holistic approach.
The meeting, on the theme, Blue Economy: Inclusive Industrialization and Economic Development in Southern Africa, was hosted by the Government of Mauritius.
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