Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist August 2018 | Page 53

AFRICA DIARY
The blue economy has the competence to provide urgently
needed jobs, the challenge is all about how to exploit water
resources in a sustainable way.
A
frica's "blue world" consists of vast lakes, oceans,
and rivers. The African Union (AU) calls the "blue
economy" the "New Frontier of African Renaissance"
and there's been a lot of talk and forums concentrating on it
over the past couple of years.
The blue economy is not only confi ned to fi shing and
tourism; it also includes things like transportation, deep sea
coastal mining, and energy. The World Bank and the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in their 2018
policy brief make a strong case in favour of the blue economy.
The continent has 38 coastal countries and a number of
island nations like Comoros, Cape Verde, Sao Tomé and
Principe, Mauritius, and Seychelles. Together with African
coastal and island states embrace vast ocean territories of an
estimated 13 million square kilometre (km²).
The island nation of Mauritius, for instance, is one of the
smallest states in the world. But it has territorial waters the
size of South Africa, and lying on the ocean bed are potential
sources of metals and minerals.
The East African nation - Somalia has the longest coastline
in Africa (about 3 000 km) and claims ocean territory
stretching about 120 km offshore. Seychelles, for example,
has 1.3 million km2 of ocean territory that remains largely
underdeveloped.
A new offshore deep sea mining industry is taking shape
in Namibia, vacuuming diamonds from the ocean fl oor.
Exponents see a gleaming future in the ocean, as onshore
mineral deposits dry up.
Although the blue economy has the competence to provide
urgently needed jobs, the challenge is all about how to exploit
water resources in a sustainable way. As efforts get underway
to exploit the continent's ocean ecosystem, environmentalists
are warning that more research is required to shape policies.
So what's the notion behind the blue economy? Is it more
than just the rebranding of marine exploitation?
"The blue economy is about using and utilising ocean
resources sustainably, without damaging it. It's problematic,
but it's still a long time into the future," says Dr. David Obura,
the director of Coastal Oceans Research and Development in
the Indian Ocean (CORDIO), East Africa.
According to Obura, it's all about transformation. "We
really need to transform the way sectors and countries plan
among each other, and also appreciation by the economic and
corporate powers that the value is generated from ecosystems
or assets that can be damaged. And you need to manage them
sustainably, just like you manage a hedge fund so you don't
destroy it while you are exploiting it."
"The sea is still behind other priorities in most Africans'
minds and mentalities, from the countries down to the
individuals - and we need to transform that. Awareness about
climate change in the ocean connection, plastics and ocean
pollution is leaping to the front in the last few years. We're
trying to ride the wave and get that awareness and get the
education systems also building that into the curriculum."
Educating Africans about their marin e resources is also
an important aspect of transformation, according to Obura.
It’s important to mention that the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) is moving towards a
strategy to develop a fl ourishing maritime economy and
harness the potential of sea-based activities in a sustainable
manner.
The SADC Secretariat in process of drafting a discussion
document to be used to develop a regional blue economy
policy and is also planning to commission a study on
opportunities and threats to the SADC Blue Economy
Initiative.
The need of the hour for the African continent is to work
collectively on a regional level to put in place and, more
importantly, put into action a sustainable maritime governance
system that will benefi t the whole continent.
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 6 • Issue 8 • August 2018, Noida • 53