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 Nigerian Ministry of Maritime and Blue Economy has received the green light to implement a raft of measures aimed at increasing the quality and volume of the nation’s seafood output in an attempt to reduce the country's reliance on imported seafood and meet the requirements of export markets.
The measures, which are laid out under the recently approved National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy, include a 10-year roadmap setting out
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Liberia's National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) has moved to implement a project aimed at modernizing government-owned hatcheries and feed mills.
The initiative falls under the larger umbrella of the USD 40 million (EUR 33.8 million) Liberia Sustainable Management of Fisheries Project (LSMFP), which became effective in late 2021 after the conclusion of a nearly three-year planning process.
The LSMFP, which has financial backing
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Namibia has approved strict measures to reduce bycatch across its various fisheries, including within its hake trawl and longline fishery.
In early August, the Namibian government decided to reduce the maximum bycatch threshold from 5 percent to 2 percent across its fisheries and increased the penalty for violating this restriction from the current 15 percent fee on every kilogram landed above the limit to 50 percent.
Namibia Minister of
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The Central African nation of Gabon announced intentions earlier this summer to withdraw from its 18-year-old sustainable fisheries partnership agreement (SFPA) with the European Union on allegations the deal is imbalanced and lacks transparency.
Though Gabon has been very vocal about terminating the SFPA, it has yet to file a formal notice of withdrawal from the deal, leading some to believe that the nation is simply trying to strengthen its
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Two Middle Eastern seafood companies – Oman Fisheries Company and Saudi Fisheries Company – separately posted reduced revenues year over year for the first half of 2025, continuing a string of negative financial periods for both firms.
Muscat, Oman-based Oman Fishing Company (OFC) recently reported a 74 percent decline in revenue for the six-month period, dropping to OMR 1 million (USD 2.6 million, EUR 2.2 million) from the OMR 3.9
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Nairobi, Kenya-based seafood firm Camino Ruiz has received USD 1 million (EUR 865,000) in financing to expand its tilapia-farming operations on Lake Victoria.
The company, which is vertically integrated with internal fish feed, fingerling production, fish-processing, and sales capabilities, aims to use the loan to increase its annual production by an additional 800 metric tons (MT) over the next year.
Camino Ruiz Founder and CEO Joseph
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Tanzania has reduced import tariffs on finfish, except tilapia, by 80 percent as the East African country aims to fill a national seafood demand gap of approximately 300,000 metric tons.
Tanzania Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Mwigulu Nchemba said that the move to reduce import fees from USD 2.50 (EUR 2.20) to USD 0.50 (EUR 0.40) per kilogram should help “stimulate the import of fish for food consumption, as well as increase raw
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The West African nation of Côte d’Ivoire has agreed to host one of the region's biggest fisheries research and innovation centers in partnership with nonprofit WorldFish.
Under the agreement, Cote d’Ivoire will provide land and USD 3 million (EUR 2.6 million) to finance the construction of the facility, while WorldFish – a Penang, Malaysia-headquartered organization that aims to create resilient and inclusive food systems
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The state government of Lagos in Nigeria recently announced that construction has begun on the Lagos Aquaculture Center of Excellence (LACE), a NGN 10 billion (USD 6.4 million, EUR 5.6 million) project aiming to boost food security, job creation, and overall seafood output in the West African country.
The LACE project, touted as Nigeria’s biggest aquaculture initiative to date, is a public-private partnership between the Lagos state
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