Shem Oirere

Shem Oirere

Contributing Editor reporting from Nairobi, Kenya

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.


Author Archive

Published on
January 10, 2025

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced it is doling out a EUR 24.6 million (USD 25.9 million) loan to the West African nation of Cote d’Ivoire in order to spur growth within its fisheries and aquaculture industries.

The bank’s board of directors approved the loan in late 2024 specifically to support the goals outlined in Cote d’Ivoire’s 2022-2026 National Policy for the Development of Livestock, Fisheries,

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Published on
January 8, 2025

AD Ports Group, a United Arab Emirates-based port development firm, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Somalia’s Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy to help the East African country increase the output of its marine fisheries.

The agreement aims to make upgrades to Somalia’s port infrastructure, and integrate the infrastructure with existing and planned seafood-processing plants, according to a statement by AD Ports

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Published on
January 3, 2025

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was recently elected president of Namibia after making several promises during her campaign to bolster the nation’s fishing industry.

Nandi-Ndaitwah will succeed Nangolo Mbumba, becoming Namibia’s fifth president and the country’s first female to hold the position.

The road to victory for Nandi-Ndaitwah was paved with numerous commitments to the Namibian fishing industry, including a pledge to effectively

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Published on
January 2, 2025

Civil society groups are pushing political leaders in Ghana to commit to more transparency in an effort to tackle illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, especially by unauthorized foreign fishing vessels operating in Ghanaian waters.

The Coalition for Fisheries Transparency (CFT), which is composed of several global civil society organizations, said Ghana has done little to make fishing information public, which has opened

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Published on
December 26, 2024

Senegal’s Atlantic Ocean purse-seine tuna fishery has secured Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, becoming the first fishery in West Africa – a region where over 40 percent of the world’s illegal fishing occurs – and the fourth across the continent to achieve the credential.

“West African Atlantic fisheries are among the world’s most productive but are increasingly threatened by high fishing

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Published on
December 19, 2024

Fish stocks in Africa’s Lake Kariba, which include tilapia, bream, catfish, and more, currently suffer from overfishing and increasing pressures from climate change.

To alleviate the pressing issue, Zambia and Zimbabwe need to harmonize their respective policies on managing the lake’s fishery and push for more aquaculture operations to ease the strain currently placed on wild stocks, according to Zimbabwe Director of Fisheries and

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Published on
December 13, 2024

The potential of Morocco’s aquaculture industry has attracted the attention of the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), which recently organized a training session in Fes, Morocco, where it hosted fish farmers and possible investors in the sector and espoused the benefits of producing tilapia in the North African country using U.S. feed ingredients.

The USGC – a Washington, D.C., U.S.A.-based nonprofit that aims to develop export markets for

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Published on
December 10, 2024
South Africa’s High Court recently upheld a decision to open up the country's lucrative squid fishery to 15 fishing cooperatives and 600 individual small-scale fishers, ending a multi-year legal battle carried out by the commercial fishing sector, which attempted to stop the move. In 2021, former South Africa Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy announced plans to award 15 percent of the nation’s chokka squid quota to the small-scale sector,… Read More
Published on
December 2, 2024
Ghana-based tilapia-farming firm Tropo Farms has received USD 10 million (EUR 9.3 million) from U.K. agribusiness investor AgDevCo to support the firm’s expansion plans. AgDevCo, which specifically invests in African agriculture and aquaculture projects, signed the long-term investment with Tropo Farms at the end of October, providing the backing needed for the fish producer to get new projects underway, including an expansion of its… Read More