Catching investment opportunities for marine fisheries in Kenya and Tanzania
East Africa holds great potential for marine fisheries because of its rich marine natural resources in its waters. Moreover, there is a ready market for fish given that large quantities of fish are still imported from abroad. Professionalizing the fishing fleet, port and processing industries are therefore major opportunities to increase food security and create employment in the industry.
To find out more about investment opportunities, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Nairobi commissioned a scoping mission conducted by the Wageningen Marine Research institute.
The scoping mission for Tanzania was presented during the Tanzania day 2017, which was attended by 200 companies from the agricultural and fisheries sectors. The session regarding marine fisheries was well attended, confirming the interest of the private sector to invest in East Africa’s blue economy.
Opportunities identified for both Kenya and Tanzania by the report include reducing the post-harvest loss by improving fish handling, processing and storage facilities. Opening up off-shore facilities could also reduce pressure on inshore fish stocks. Diversification by developing sea weed and shrimps production are additional opportunities identified in the studies. The full reports can be found using the links below.
To follow up on these studies, the agricultural department of the Embassy of the Netherlands conducted a scoping mission to explore the Kenyan companies in the marine fisheries sector. We visited the fishing companies, processing plants and fish markets. Diamond SeaFood Ltd, East Africa sea food Ltd, Ittica Ltd, and Transafrica fisheries Ltd were all very helpful in providing more information about their businesses and identify areas for potential collaboration with Dutch companies. Also, we visited the Kibuyuni sea weed community, who explained all about growing and processing sea weed. Knowledge about the companies active in the marine sector allows the embassy to link them with Dutch companies interested to invest in the East African region. This will create mutual beneficial partnerships for Kenya as well as the Netherlands.
For more information about this sector or any other agricultural questions feel free to contact us via nai-lnv@minbuza.nl. For the latest updates on activities, new articles and more follow us on twitter on @NLAgiKenya and subscribe to our newsletter by sending us an email. In case of any non-agriculture questions for the Netherlands Embassy in Nairobi see, this website for contact information.