Sustainable Blue African Pact

Presentation of the
“Sustainable Blue African Pact”

An initiative of the Blue Africa Summit,
as part of the side event Africa-Mediterranean-Europe Cooperation
June 11, 2025, Nice, UNOC3

Context

While the most recent international economic studies predict a significant expansion of the blue economy on a global scale, the African continent still lacks a strategic oceanic compass.
Few African states possess a true scientific understanding of their own Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), along with the capacity to protect and sustainably exploit these areas for the benefit of their populations. These countries also often find themselves unprepared to face the effects of climate change, which are increasingly impacting their coastlines, alongside various forms of pollution and the decline of marine biodiversity. Additionally, they frequently struggle with threats to their maritime security and sovereignty, being dispossessed of their fishery, genetic, and mineral resources, and unable to provide coastal communities with the means for sustainable development.
As for the blue routes—those of maritime trade, undersea cables, and energy connectivity—they bring little benefit to African countries due to a lack of port infrastructure, logistics platforms, civilian and defense fleets, and local investment.

At a time when governance choices are accelerating within the United Nations framework across the three components of the ocean (EEZs, high seas, deep seabed), the continent must not remain absent—or become the great loser—of the blue economic revolution.
The mission “Pact for a Sustainable Blue Africa” emerged from several forums and initiatives, including the World Sea Forum (Bizerte), the Blue Africa Summit (Tangier), the UNOC3 Regional Consultation in Tangier, as well as studies led by the African Union, the OECD, the World Bank, the Indian Ocean Commission, and other initiatives such as the European Commission’s Starfish Mission and the Africa-Europe Foundation.
The special summit of the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference, themed “Africa for the Ocean”, held on June 9 and led by the governments of the Kingdom of Morocco and the French Republic, and chaired by HRH Princess Lalla Hasna and President Emmanuel Macron, underscored the strategic importance of the issue. The summit brought together the UN Secretary-General, around 15 heads of state and government, and representatives from 35 African countries.

Methodology

Presented at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice on June 11, 2025, the “Pact for a Sustainable Blue Africa” Mission sets out the following objectives:

● To conceptualize Blue Africa as part of a regional maritime system that includes the Atlantic basin, the Mediterranean, Europe, and the Indian Ocean;
● To draft the first map of maritime opportunities—economic, environmental, and societal—for the African continent by autumn 2025, during the 3rd edition of the Blue Africa Summit;
● To establish four expert panels focused on:

o Economy and Finance
o Governance
o Science, Research, and Education
o Civil Society, Cities, and Coastal Regions;

● To produce the first set of recommendations by autumn 2026, at the 4th edition of the Blue Africa Summit;
● To begin in 2027 delivering targeted missions and scenario analyses at global, regional, and national levels—upon request and on-site—and to support both governments and investors in project development.

Expert colleges

● Economy and Finance college: Entrepreneurs, economists, financial experts, researchers
● Science and Education college: Researchers and scientists across all ocean-related disciplines, education leaders
● Governance college: Governments, public administrations, international organizations
● Civil Society college: NGOs, representatives of coastal cities and regions, youth, gender, and equity-based organizations.