Despite numerous promises of infrastructure projects and the signing of fishery access agreements with African nations, China and the E.U. have done little to help African countries develop their own seafood-processing sectors, according to Edwin Ngwafor, the managing director of Timezone Marine Ventures, a Cameroonian fishing firm.
Ngwafor told SeafoodSource that “both Chinese and European actors have little interest in a strong African fish-processing industry,” as they wish to control the raw materials themselves.
“It’s cheaper and easier for Chinese or European firms to buy or catch raw fish in Africa and then process and sell it in higher-value markets at home,” he said. “Up to 80 percent of seafood’s value is created after the fish is caught in processing, branding, certification, and distribution. Keeping that value chain outside Africa preserves their economic advantage.”
Even though China and the E.U. give preferential access to some African seafood exports, African processors still face “tough sanitary and phytosanitary standards, certification hurdles, and non-tariff barriers when exporting to the E.U. or Asia,” Ngwafor said.
That juxtaposition is showcased in a European Parliament resolution that outlines the current sustainable fisheries partnership agreement (SFPA) between the E.U. and Guinea-Bissau. The resolution highlights the fact that the E.U. will pay the West African nation EUR 85 million (USD 98.6 million) for access to its waters between 2024 and 2029 but stressed that Guinea-Bissau is unable to export to the E.U. because it doesn’t meet the bloc’s sanitary requirements.
Daniel Voces, the managing director of E.U. fishing representative body Europêche, explained that the SFPA allocates EUR 4.5 million (USD 5.2 million) annually in support for Guinea-Bissau’s fisheries sector, marking an increase of EUR 1.4 million (USD 1.62 million) per year compared with the previous agreement.
“In addition to the E.U.’s contribution, shipowners will pay license and capture fees to the country’s administration,” he told SeafoodSource. “These funds can finance upgrades to landing sites, cold chain facilities, laboratories, and related infrastructure. However, implementation rests with the partner government – not E.U. authorities or E.U. operators directly.”
Ngwafor, however, who has attempted to kickstart fishing and processing ventures in Cameroon in the past but has struggled to ink financing partnerships, said that these individual payments do not help patch the issues that are holding African nations back from being able to export to high-value markets or attract investment from the private sector.
“China and the E.U. both provide money on paper. But, here’s the catch: Funds are often captured by elites or spent elsewhere. These revenues frequently go to government budgets – or disappear through opaque management – rather than being reinvested in the fishery sector itself, for example in cold chain infrastructure, enforcement, or fisher training,” he said. “Fish processing – especially for export – needs cold chains, reliable electricity, and modern ports. Cameroon’s cold storage and transport networks are minimal, and electricity supply is inconsistent, making local processing costly and risky. Local entrepreneurs and cooperatives rarely have access to affordable credit to invest in processing plants, cold rooms, or fishing vessels that meet international standards.”
Ngwafor added that there are also governance and enforcement gaps to contend with that result in overfishing and other IUU activities, often committed by foreign nations.
“Corruption and weak monitoring allow IUU fishing. Foreign vessels often overexploit stocks, leaving little for local operators and reducing incentives to invest long term,” he said. “Most [African] fishers are artisanal, operating small boats without the capacity to scale or meet hygiene and export standards required by the E.U. or Asian markets.”
With all of this considered, Ngawfor said that aid from China and the E.U. is strategic, not altruistic.
“China’s fisheries aid often involves building ports that Chinese fleets use. E.U. support measures are typically tied to maintaining access for E.U. fleets, not to create competition from African processors,” he said. “In practice, both sides prefer a dependent African partner, not a competitive one.”
To mitigate the issue, Ngwafor has called on African countries like Cameroon to come up with a national fisheries industrialization strategy, like Namibia’s or Morocco’s.
This, Ngwafor said, will result in policy coherence.
“Many African countries lack a comprehensive industrial strategy for seafood linking capture, processing, logistics, certification, and export promotion. Without that, money alone won’t change the system,” he said.
