Africa-Europe Foundation launches first cross-continental Roadmap to accelerate cooperation on Ocean Governance and Blue Economy

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Tangiers and Brussels, 11 Oct 2024– The ‘Africa-Europe Strategy Group on Ocean’, an initiative of the European Commission in partnership with the African Union Commission and facilitated by the Africa-Europe Foundation’, has launched the ‘Roadmap Towards 2030’, a policy guide and action plan to steer cross-continental cooperation on Ocean Governance and Blue Economy.

Unveiled at the Blue Africa Summit in Tangiers, Morocco, the Roadmap outlines a comprehensive strategy aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, with a focus on three operational pillars: ‘Ocean Governance’, ‘Capacity Sharing’ and ‘Finance and Investment’. The Roadmap provides an operational blueprint for a transformative alliance against the backdrop of ocean cooperation being largely overlooked in the Africa-Europe Partnership and representing the most underfunded Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).

Expressing her support for the Roadmap, the African Union’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, Ambassador Josefa Sacko, expressed her “deepest appreciation to the Africa-Europe Foundation for its steadfast leadership”, stating that the Africa-Europe Ocean Strategy Group is “a testament of power of partnerships in tackling some of the most pressing challenges” adding that it was essential to focus on “ocean governance, capacity building and investment”.

The European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for European Green Deal, Inter-institutional Relations and Foresight, Maroš Šefčovič, said: "I welcome this important Report, and I would like to express my gratitude to the Africa-Europe Ocean Strategic Group for having prepared it. I share the persuasion, clearly stated in the Report, that it is now high time for Europe and Africa to further develop their cooperation on ocean-related issues, given the poor state of the ocean and the need to accelerate collective action to meet the targets set in the UN 2030 Agenda. Africa and Europe have a real opportunity and joint responsibility here to take concrete actions."

The Roadmap, which is the result of an extensive multi-stakeholder process pioneered by the Africa-Europe Ocean Strategy Group, also received firm backing from the Blue Africa Summit, with the final Summit declaration “welcoming the Africa-Europe Ocean Roadmap” and underlining that the Ocean Strategy Group facilitated by the Africa-Europe Foundation represents “a unique platform and incubator for cross-continental action, primed for large-scale impact from 2025 and contributing to the mainstreaming of ocean governance and blue economy in the AU- EU partnership and the lead-up to the UN Ocean Conference and beyond”.

Speaking in Tangiers, Pascal Lamy, Co-chair of the Africa-Europe Ocean Strategy Group underlined that the“Roadmap Towards 2030:Co-driving the Africa-Europe Ocean Partnership’ is a critical tool for expanding the cross-continental partnership,” adding that “It aims to engage new actors, deepen cooperation, unlock dormant opportunities, scale up activities, and pave the way for fresh policy thinking and sustainable joint actions for ocean governance and blue economy” while Ambassador Nancy Karigithu, Kenya’s Special Envoy on Maritime and Blue Economy and Co-chair of the Group, emphasised that “Embracing the Roadmap is a shared commitment that holds the key to unlocking the full potential of the Africa-Europe Ocean Partnership (..) It is imperative for all stakeholders to heed its guidance, fostering collaboration and progress towards a stronger, more prosperous future for both continents.”

Paul Walton, Executive Director of the Africa-Europe Foundation, stated: “The platform is now in place to scale Africa-Europe cooperation for this vital domain of action at the nexus of climate change and economic development. This approach, anchored by next year’s UN Conference, will not only attract investment but will challenge siloed work across sectors and signal a paradigm shift in the Africa-Europe Partnership – built on equal footing, mutual interests and shared opportunities”.

Looking ahead to next year’s agenda, including the UN Ocean Conference and a number of key Ocean Treaties under multilateral negotiation, the Roadmap identifies strategic intervention priority areas for enhanced Africa-Europe alignment as well as milestones to unlock finance and investment for blue action and innovation at the national, regional, and cross-continental level.