Navigating the Blue Economy: Challenges and Opportunities

The blue economy emerges with both challenges and opportunities of epic proportions. Our ocean, often overlooked in favour of more terrestrial matters, plays a vital role in our lives. It provides not only beauty and wonder but sustenance and economic prosperity, for many being the only option. Yet, it faces a growing list of challenges that threaten not only its vitality but also the future of our planet.

In order to use the blue economy to its full potential, it needs to be used in a sustainable way that allows for a regenerative ocean. For this to happen quickly, the perception of it as an economic value needs to change. This is how the GenBlue Programme was launched by 德国国际合作机构 , Make-IT in Africa , Viridian and OceanHub Africa who saw the need to speed up the development of entrepreneurship that is not only about the ocean but for the ocean, through Innovation Support Organisations (ISOs). The GenBlue Programme helps Entrepreneurial Support Organisations to create their own blue vertical programmes for potential blue entrepreneurs.

Make-It combined its strong focus on African Innovation and technologies for inclusive development with a blue economy aspect brought on by OceanHub Africa’s expertise in blue entrepreneurship.?

The Blue Economy Challenges: A Multifaceted Predicament?

The challenges facing our ocean are multifaceted, spanning ecological, social, and economic realms.?

The harsh reality is that 50-70% of the oxygen we breathe comes from the ocean. It's a lifeline we have often taken for granted. Brought on by our harmful activities, often being economic-based, we now find dead zones in the ocean, rising ocean temperatures, coral bleaching and biodiversity loss and more.?

While these ocean challenges might not sound relevant to human life, they are strongly interconnected to almost everything we do. Dead zones are fuelled by nitrogen and phosphorus from activities such as fertiliser spills and automobile exhaust waste, choking marine life and biodiversity. Rising ocean temperatures give rise to natural disasters and transform once-vibrant ecosystems. While coral reefs, the underwater rainforests and natural barriers, are in peril. Harmful practices linked to overfishing further threaten the delicate balance of oceanic life.?

These are merely a few highlighted ecological challenges. If nothing is done to combat these challenges or seek alternative innovations, a prediction of irreversible damage to our ocean will follow in the year 2030.?

On the economic front, the blue economy is a treasure trove, with an estimated worth of 2.5 trillion USD1 currently harvested, which barely represents 10% of the total economic potential.?

Regrettably, our economic practices linked to the ocean have predominantly built inequitable value chains that now need to be overthrown in favour of a more equal and inclusive blue economy.?

These inequitable economic value chains have spilt over to the social front, with today’s blue economy facing an unequal representation of women in this sector.?

While women often have a significant presence in processing, they have little presence in places higher up such as fisheries management, or ocean decision-making bodies.2

Many don’t have equal access to opportunities, resources, financing, market information, technology, training, mobility and bargaining power.

The GenBlue programme saw the need for not only a sustainable blue economy but an equal one. The programme was thus tailored to the implementation of blue vertical programmes to have a focus on gender inclusivity and female economic empowerment.

The blue economy, falling under Sustainable Development Goal 14 Life Below Water is intrinsically linked with all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the oceans' particular lack of representation of a lack of connection to education within these goals, does not capture education to play a key role in the preservation of our ocean.??

Damage to the ocean has ripple effects on us all, disproportionately affecting vulnerable communities, particularly low-income women in the global south.?

The Blue Economy Opportunity: Unveiling Solutions Beneath the Surface?

The ocean holds the key to solutions for ecological degradation and socioeconomic development. The challenge lies in making this narrative clear and advocating for both the ocean and the people who rely on it, especially in the African context.?

Internationally, the tide is turning as more funders step forward, and the blue economy sector gains momentum. Amongst others are the supporters of OceanHub Africa (OHA) namely TripleJump, DGGF, Builders Visions and Schmidt Marine Technology Partners. The number of start-ups in this space doubled from 2019 to 2021, signalling increased interest and investment.?

Urgency drives us to mobilise solutions for the ocean. Innovation Support Organizations (ISOs) serve as catalysts on local and global stages, attracting the attention of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) looking to fund blue economy projects. Investors are increasingly blending profit and impact, with innovative financial instruments incentivizing sustainability and regeneration.?

Measuring the feasibility of ambitious projects, setting clear expectations, adapting to external changes, diversifying funding sources, and understanding that investors seek viable businesses first are essential considerations. ISOs must prove the significance of the blue economy by aligning their proposals with the specific interests of funders and investors.?

Africa's Potential in the Blue Economy?

Africa, with its vast coastal territories and exclusive economic zones, holds immense potential in the blue economy. OceanHub Africa, the only African hub in the 1,000 Ocean Start-up network, is a beacon of hope. Africa has only about 5%3 of global ocean impact start-ups. This is despite the continent consisting of 38 coastal countries, and 13 million km2 worth of combined exclusive economic zones in the ocean. Therefore, it still has a long way to go. To change this, we need more voices advocating for the regenerative blue economy and ensuring that it aligns with the value of socioeconomic development, which is highly prized in Africa.?

In Conclusion: Charting a Sustainable Course?

We stand at a pivotal moment in history. The blue economy presents us with an opportunity to not only safeguard our environment but also uplift communities and secure our collective future. We need to continue the implementation and innovation of the development of sustainable, blue entrepreneurship through programmes like GenBlue.?

In conclusion, we must navigate these challenges and opportunities with an approach that simultaneously creates economic opportunity while also serving as a climate solution.?

The blue economy isn't just about the ocean; it's about our shared future.

“Ocean Economy Offers a $2.5 Trillion Export Opportunity: UNCTAD Report | UNCTAD.” 2021. Unctad.org. October 26, 2021. https://unctad.org/news/ocean-economy-offers-25-trillion-export-opportunity-unctad- report#:~:text=A%20new%20UNCTAD%20report%20estimates.?

?“The blue economy is an ocean of opportunity to advance gender equality: UNCTAD Report | UNCTAD.” Unctad.org. 22 march 2021. https://unctad.org/es/isar/news/blue-economy-ocean-opportunity-advance-gender-equality#:~:text=There%20is%20a%20disparity%20of,training%2C%20mobility%20and%20bargaining%20power.

“2023 Impact Investment Trends.” Katapult, 9 Jan. 2023, katapult.vc/group/emerging-trends-across-ocean-climate-and africa/. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.