Unlock the blue economy for job creation

Unlock the blue economy for job creation
JANUARY 6, 2020 https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/analysis/letters/Unlock-the-blue-eco...

Efforts by Kenya to tap the unexploited potential of the maritime industry, commonly known as the ‘Blue Economy’, came into sharp focus recently when a youth gathering in Mombasa raised concerns over the delay by the government in creating an integrated policy framework to chart a way forward.

The conference was a follow up to a Global Sustainable Blue Economy Conference that was held in Kenya last year, which made a number of recommendations that the country must put in place to tap into the opportunities in the Blue Economy for economic growth and job creation among the youth.

The Youth Congress, a local non-governmental organisation that has partnered with the Canadian High Commission and the UN-Habitat has already presented some recommendations that will only be implementable if anchored on a focused policy.

Although there has been notable attention, interest and programmes on Blue Economy in Kisumu ports, Lake Region Economic Bloc-Lake Region Economic Blueprint and Jumuia ya Kaunti za Pwani, there is little good to write home about.

Until only a few years ago, when Kenya acknowledged the value of maritime sector and passed the Merchant Shipping Act 2010 that repealed 1967 piece legislation that governed the industry, it has historically been largely ignored as an economic growth frontier.