Progress in the Development of an African Ocean Governance Strategy: Note by the Secretariat - African Ministerial Conference on the Environment Eighteenth Session

Despite the recognition that Africa’s oceans are some of the richest environmental resources in the world, their importance as a source of income for steering the growth of African economies is yet to be fully tapped. A sustainable blue economy holds great promise for contributing to the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the realization of the aspirations of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. In recognition of the enormous value of healthy oceans to Africa’s development, the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), at its fifteenth session, held in 2015, adopted the Cairo Declaration on Managing Africa’s Natural Capital for Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication, in which it resolved to develop a governance strategy, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and regional seas conventions, on oceans and seas in Africa for the effective management of the region’s shared maritime resource.