Zanzibar starts to reap early fruits of blue economy drive
Dar es Salaam. It has been two years since the Blue Economy Policy was launched in Zanzibar, with President Mwinyi making it one of his key agenda items during the election campaigns, and already the initiative is bearing fruit.
To make sure the agenda was not muzzled by other promises, a specific ministry was created for this sole purpose.
In his own words, then, ‘Zanzibar was a place of scarcity in the middle of plenty’ of resources that were underutilized for the benefit of its citizens, citing the example that chicken was cheaper than fish on the isles.
Records available at the Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority (ZIPA) show a surge in the volumes of investments in the areas of tourism and fisheries on the isles, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Speaking to The Citizen, ZIPA’s Shida Makame said in the past two years they have registered 39 projects in the sectors of fisheries and tourism.
“We have nine projects in the fisheries, whereas there are 30 tourism projects registered at ZIPA,” she explained.
According to her, investments in the islets have attracted some $442 million, whereas investments in the processing of sea products, including fisheries, have so far brought in investments worth $18.26 million.
Her statement is corroborated by the Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries’ Principal Secretary, Dr Aboud Jumbe, who said from the onset they were out to empower the community into realizing the potential of investing in the sector.
As part of the initiative, in partnership with other stakeholders, SMZ, through the Covid –fund has supplied fibre boats to fishermen to enable them to carry out fishing as compared to the rudimentary tools they were using.
“This initiative, which has seen us provide 1077 fibre boats, is likely to benefit nearly 150,000 people, but we haven’t stopped there; we’ve also empowered seaweed farmers to ensure they harvest clean weed,” Dr Jumbe said.
And just like President Mwinyi, he, too, believes that the future of the blue economy is bright, and it is already bearing fruit with volumes of fish increasing from the initial 35,000 tonnes to 47,000 tonnes in 2021, with volumes expected to hit 55,000 tonnes.
Seaweed volumes too have increased to hit a record of 21,000 tonnes in the past year, and with more investment, this is set to almost triple.
“We have issued 31 deep-sea fishing licences, which is set to bring in value addition, plus the new fish market built in partnership with JICA is set to open soon, all pointing at brighter times ahead,” he said.
Dr Mohammed Hafidh Khalfan, the chairman of the Zanzibar Research Centre for Social Policy and Economic Analysis, says it is a critical area where the government can rely on to deliver some of its promises to the electorate.
He sees a major impediment to achieving the intended goals in the mindset of the community, which requires change for the desired goals to be achieved.
“Zanzibar is made up of islands, and therefore the sea is our oil; unfortunately, it has been underutilized in the past.” “Our fishermen have yet to fully realize their potential; many are small-scale fishermen,” Dr. Khalfan said.
According to him, there is a need to train professionals in the area who will in turn disseminate the message to the community.
“Everyone should understand their position in the setup of the blue economy from where they are, be it fishing, tourism, or even value addition,” he said.
His claim is backed up by businessman and economic analyst Abdulhamid Mshangama, who claims that the sea’s riches are vast but only potential.
“There is plenty that we can do with the ocean; half of the 300,000 jobs that were promised by the government will have to come from the blue economy,” he said.
He cites Singapore as having one of the most successful blue economies, as well as World Cup hosts Qatar, as examples from which Zanzibar and Tanzania in general can learn.
