Shem Oirere is a Kenyan journalist who previously worked for daily newspapers as a general news correspondent, business reporter and sub-editor before turning to full-time freelancing. For the more than 20 years, he has covered various sectors of Africa’s economy including agriculture, food processing, and maritime industries. A graduate of the University of South Africa, he has traveled within and outside Africa covering various industry events that have a bearing on the continent’s economy on behalf of different international consumer and trade publications. He currently lives in Nairobi, Kenya.
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The sustainable fisheries partnership agreement (SFPA) between the European Union and the West African nation of Senegal is set to expire in November, and if the two parties can not strike a deal before then it also poses a challenge to the planned renegotiation for a similar deal the bloc has with neighboring Gambia, which lapses in June 2025.
Renewal of the E.U.’s deal with Senegal hit a speed bump in May 2024 when the European
… Read MoreOn 4 October, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) upheld its 2021 decision that declared the sustainable fisheries partnership agreement between the E.U. and Morocco invalid, annulling the deal over Morocco’s political conflict with neighboring Western Sahara.
As a result, the path forward for Morocco and the E.U. to renew the SFPA, which expired in July 2023, becomes murkier.
The deal gave Morocco EUR 52 million
… Read MoreSeven countries in southern Africa are collaborating with Penang, Malaysia-based aquatic food systems research organization WorldFish on a project to improve the quality of native tilapia in the region.
Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, and Comoros – all members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional economic bloc – are implementing the initiative, which aims to reduce the prevalence
… Read MoreSomalia has unveiled new standard operating procedures (SOPs) for licensing tuna-fishing vessels operating within the country’s nearly 1.1-million-square-kilometer exclusive economic zone, and for domestic fishing companies seeking registration, as the government seeks to align its permit-issuance process with international maritime laws and sustainable fishing practices.
This government-driven licensing and registration plan, if
… Read MoreKenya has slashed nearly 30 percent of its fiscal year 2024-2025 budget allocation for fisheries, aquaculture, and the blue economy after countrywide anti-tax protests in July forced the government to rework its original proposals on taxes, expenditures, borrowings, and revenue.
In response to the protests, Kenyan President William Ruto said through the withdrawal of the original plan, he had listened to Kenyans “who have said loudly that
… Read MoreThe South Africa Supreme Court of Appeals has upheld a ban implemented by the country’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE) on the use of drones used for fishing purposes in an attempt to protect the country’s marine fish populations.
In doing so, the court dismissed an appeal case filed against the DFFE by several business entities involved in the manufacture, import, market, and selling of angling
… Read MoreFemale seaweed farmers operating in the Western Indian Ocean will have access to private-sector financing through a new project that will support them in introducing farming technology, both boosting the resilience of their enterprises against the adverse impacts of climate change and increasing production of high-quality seaweed.
At least 25,000 female seaweed farmers in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique will have access to the financing between
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