By Immah Kimani
It is aimed to raise awareness of the economic, social and environmental benefits of the Blue Economy, the Africa Blue Economy Forum (ABEF) is coming to Tunis, Tunisia from 25-26 June 2019, with confirmed speakers, including Government ministers and officials from Gabon, Ghana, Morocco, Somaliland, Tunisia and Seychelles.
African businesses are being challenged to wake up to the economic, social and environmental power of the Blue Economy. Momentum is gathering for companies based in Africa’s coastal nations to fully recognize and understand the benefits of backing a Blue Economy, which covers a wide range of productive sectors that are crucial for the continent’s sustainable development, including fisheries, aquaculture, transport, energy, trade and tourism as well as extractive industries.
Research indicates that the Blue Economy has the potential to be a major source of wealth and prosperity for the continent and help advance the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.
The ABEF2019 builds on the inaugural event in London last year, which explored what the Blue Economy was. This year’s forum aims to take it a stage further and explore how business and government can implement actions that will proactively boost the economic, social and environmental welfare of the continent.
ABEF2019 will deliver a strong focus on business and government collaboration, highlight investment opportunities and reveal environmental and social impact. Discussions will explore the opportunities and innovations in emerging and frontier sectors of the blue economy and how they can help accelerate Africa’s transformation, create jobs, sustain livelihoods and communities and offer low cost but impactful climate change measures.