1st Edition
The Blue Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa Working for a Sustainable Future
The blue economy, comprising coastal and marine resources, offers vast benefits for sub-Saharan Africa: of the 53 countries and territories in the region, 32 are coastal states; there are 13 million sq km of maritime zones; more than 90% of the region’s exports and imports come by sea; and the African Union hails the blue economy as the ‘new frontier of African renaissance’.
Despite their importance, the region’s coastal and marine resources have been neither fully appreciated nor fully utilized. They are only now being recognized as being key to Africa’s potential prosperity. As the region grows, it has, in general, not taken adequate safeguards to protect these valuable resources. That is partly because some of the problems (pollution, for example) are regional and know no borders. All too often, short-term gains are made at the expense of the long term (overfishing, for example).
This book provides, for the first time, a study of the constraints and opportunities the blue economy offers for sub-Saharan Africa. It includes an introduction and overview; sectoral analyses (including tourism, fisheries, mineral resources, culture, shipping and maritime safety); country case studies; and analyses of regional and international efforts towards better coastal zone and marine management.
Foreword by The Honorable Vincent Meriton, Former Vice-President of Seychelles
Acknowledgements
The Editor and Contributors
Introduction: The Blue Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa
Donald L. Sparks
Part I: Elements of the Blue Economy
1 Culture, Communities and Society
Thean Potgieter
- Tourism, Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Threats
- Fisheries and Aquaculture in the West Indian Ocean States
- Coastal and Offshore Energy and Mineral Resources
- Maritime Safety and Security
- Ports, Shipping and Transportation
- South Africa: The Blue Economy Experience
- From Concept to Practice: The Blue Economy in Seychelles
- Managing the Blue Economy: A Case Study of Tanzania
- Innovative Financing for Africa’s Blue Economy
- Measuring the Blue Economy
- International Ocean Governance as a Necessary Backdrop to Developing Africa’s Blue Economy
- Making the Blue Economy Happen
Angela M. Lamptey
Erika Techera and Abdi Fatah Hassan
Vivian Louis Forbes
Jade Lindley
Vivian Louis Forbes
Part II: Country Case Studies
Thean Potgieter
Dominique Benzaken and Kelly Hoareau
Francis Mwaijande
Part III: Financing, Measuring and Governing the Blue Economy
Torsten Thiele
Charles Colgan, Vivian Louis Forbes and Iddi Mwanyoka
Nick J. Hardman-Mountford, Jeff A. Ardron, Rosemarie Cadogan, Chilenye Nwapi, Alison Swaddling
Clever Mafuta
Afterword: What is Possible? What is Likely?
Donald L. Sparks
Biography
Donald L. Sparks, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of International Economics at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, USA, and a university lecturer in International Business at the Management Center Innsbruck, Austria.
