Concept Note

Background

During the AU Summit in Addis Ababa in January 2014, Heads of State formally acknowledged that Africa’s oceans are essential to the sustainable development of the continent and embraced the “Blue Economy” as one of key pillars in their 2063 agenda. The goals and aspirations are that it should form Africa’s common position in post 2015 Sustainable Development Agenda and Sustainable Development. Exploiting and developing the full potential of Africa’s oceanic resources and its inland water resources widens development opportunities, and is critically important for the continent’s transformation.  However this should not be done in a business as usual way involving brown development where oceans have until now been perceived as a means of free resource extraction and waste dumping, resulting in overexploitation and degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems.

On the other hand, the Blue Economy model offers prospects of sustained, environmentally-sound and socially inclusive economic growth, especially for African SIDS who depend on marine resources for their economic development and population livelihoods. It also offers opportunities for African SIDS to address their development challenges resulting from the specific characteristics of small yet growing populations, insularity, remoteness and vulnerability to natural disasters (Bruguglio,1995). The need for development of Blue Economy which embraces systems conservation is further emphasized by the recent released IPCC and 5AR which predict an increase in extreme climate occurences in Africa and the need for greater maritime connectivity of Africa’s islands to the continent for key markets to address food security issues.

Opportunities in the Blue Economy

Although Africa has significant socio-economic challenges which are aggravated by climate change, especially in Small Islands, problems often bring about opportunities that can galvanize economic transformation such as those offered in the Blue Economy.

a) Shipping and Port Facilities
The majority of world trade is undertaken by sea. 80% of the world’s oil shipments are by sea, the most important trade route.  Seaborne trade grew by 4% in 2011, to 8.7 billion tonnes (UNCTD 2012) despite the global economic crisis and container traffic is projected to triple by 2030(OECD 2012). Coastal countries and SIDS can optimize their benefit by upgrading their port facilities and capacity to handle such volume of trade.

b). Fisheries
Globally marine fisheries create 350 million jobs and the value of fish traded by developing countries is estimated at US$ 25 billion. This has continued to grow to the point of over exploitation which can be aggravated by increased ocean temperatures and other climate change impacts that affect marine ecosystems risking stock decline of up to 75.%(FAO2010).

c).Tourism
Tourism is a major global industry. In 2012 international tourist arrivals increased by 4% despite the global economic crisis and constituted 9% of Global GDP. In Africa’s SIDS it remains a major source of revenue, mainly in the Seychelles, Cape Verde and Mauritius. However its vulnerability to climate change calls for innovative adaptation and mitigation strategies including new policies and legal frameworks that would ensure economic sustainability.

e). Energy
Energy poverty in Africa remains a big challenge; more than 30 % of the continent’s population does not have access to electricity and fossil fuels remain the dominant energy source especially in African SIDS whose costs undermines Africa’s transformative agenda. On the other hand Africa has immense sources of renewable energy. For instance solar power can produce up to 2000kwh per sq. meter per year and can be distributed without expensive large scale grid, wind & wave power, estimated to exceed 3,750kWh). Hydropower is another example, of which Africa has 12% of global sources and geothermal power generation potential.  These renewable resources can drive Africa’s transformation through blue economy.

Submarine mining
The majority of new mineral resources will not be found on land but in the sea.The world is gearing up for the exploration and exploitation of mineral deposits on and beneath the sea bed and Africa should prepare itself to take advantage of the opportunities offered by this new resource. The International Seabed Authority has developed Mining Code regulations to meet these changing circumstances and has commenced issuing licenses for the exploration of the international sea floor. African coastal countries and SIDS should also ensure their concerns are incorporated into these measures to manage the coming race for the riches of the seabed. 

The way forward towards development of Blue Economy

In embracing the concept of a “Blue Economy”, Africa needs to understand that this concept is not only relevant to SIDS but is also relevant to coastal states with an interest in waters beyond national jurisdiction.  Countries should therefore consider strategies that:

• View oceans as “development spaces”, where coordinated planning integrates conservation, sustainable use, oil and mineral wealth extraction, and marine transport.
• Emphasize conservation and sustainable management of oceans and complement the “green” economy” as opposed to the business as usual “brown” development  model where oceans have been perceived as a means of free resource extraction and waste dumping
• Recognize the productivity of healthy ocean ecosystems as a way to safeguard sustainable ocean-based economies, as well as to ensure that SIDS and other coastal countries benefit from their marine resources.
• Bring about synergies in areas such as the effective utilization and management of natural and marine resources, science and technology, infrastructure development and tourism as well as environmental and climate change management through inclusive strategies and programmes.
• Promote the correct kind of investment in fisheries, off shore energy development, tourism and other key economic sectors to allow African economies to redefine the ownership of their oceanic spaces, earn more from the resources found in their EEZs and simultaneously boost exports based on value addition while increasing food security.
• Emphasize increased investment in education and training of young demography to develop their skills to innovate in the context of Africa’s development.