The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania is implementing a robust strategy to boost the performance of the blue economy sector in Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
Implementation of the strategy is in accordance with the Mainland Tanzania National Blue Economy Policy (2024) and the Zanzibar Blue Economy Policy (2022).
Under the ongoing strategy, the Mainland and Zanzibar Governments are collaborating to strengthen interventions on professional supervision and development of blue economy resources.
The interventions being implemented include joint coordination of blue economy issues, development of sustainable marine spatial planning, public awareness on the blue economy, as well as coordination of international and regional agreements pertaining to the blue economy.
The development has been unveiled by Deputy Minister of State in the Vice-President’s Office (Union and Environment), Reuben Kwagilwa, while responding to questions from lawmakers during the ongoing Parliament session in Dodoma Capital.
He noted that the strategy incorporates rolling out of capital support to women and youth in diverse areas of the country with blue economy opportunities, with the purpose being to ensure that more Tanzanians venture into and benefit from the prestigious economic sector.
He detailed that, through the USD 150 million-worth project on climate change, which is being implemented in a total of 65 councils with blue economy opportunities countrywide, out of which 15 councils are based in Zanzibar, citizens are being provided with an opportunity to acquire financial support to engage in the sector.
The Deputy Minister observed that the blue economy is a sector which involves a number of other sectors, ranging from fishing, transportation, energy and tourism, saying the Government was continuing to run a series of public awareness campaigns to attract more Tanzanians to take part in the sector.
“The blue economy sector employs millions of Tanzanians. For example, the fishing sector per se employs at least one million people in the country, with its contribution to the country’s GDP now standing at 2.2 percent,” he detailed.
He informed the House that Tanzania has so far managed to make major strides in the blue economy sector, both regionally and internationally.
Due to such achievements, the Deputy Minister told the House that Tanzania has been picked to host the Twelfth Conference of the Parties to the Nairobi Convention.
He said the forum will delve on the key discussion on sustainable blue economy in the western Indian Ocean region.
“The meeting will attract ten countries, including Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros, France, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, South Africa and the host, Tanzania,” he said.
Hosting such a high-level blue economy summit communicates a clear message over the extent to which Tanzania is performing strongly in the economic sector.