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Seychelles is a global biodiversity hotspot comprising of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. As an island nation that depends almost entirely on its ocean, it has become a prime example of a country that has embraced the Blue Economy.
The original Blue Economy concept by Gunter Pauli was to look for the best nature-inspired technologies to shift society from scarcity to abundance by tackling environmental and other problems in new ways.¹ Sustainability is central to the success of the Blue Economy concept and this has multi-sectoral implications. To better coordinate the approach of the Blue Economy concept, the Department of the Blue Economy was established in 2015 and it has been promoting the sustainable use of marine resources as well as coordinating its approach for the usage of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Any business activity within the EEZ will be developed according to the Seychelles Marine Spatial Plan and will have to reflect sustainable use of marine resources.
Seychelles has developed a Blue Economy roadmap, which defines how Seychelles will make maximum use of its 1.358 million square kilometres of ocean in the most sustainable manner possible. This comprehensive roadmap covers the whole spectrum of potential resources from oil exploration, to aquaculture, sustainable fishing and even eco-tourism. Renowned internationally for its success in the Blue Economy in Africa, Seychelles inspires many of its counterparts in the region to follow the same agenda. In 2018 the President of Seychelles received the Blue Economy Award on Maritime Sectors at the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi Kenya. This award represents an opportunity for the country to engage further with other African countries and international partners, namely RECs (Regional Economic Communities).
The Blue Economy is expected to deliver opportunities for diversification of the Seychelles economy.
Investment Opportunities in this sector include:
- Sustainable fisheries
- Mari culture/Aquaculture
- Biotechnology Research
- Education Institutions
- Port Services
- Ship Repair
- Maritime Legal Services
- Laboratory Services
- Marine Equipment Repair and Sale
- Renewable Energy Development
- Hydrocarbons/Mineral exploration and extraction
Funding opportunities for such business activities are also available through the Blue Investment Fund (BIF) Scheme from the Development Bank of Seychelles (DBS) and Blue Grants Fund from the Seychelles’ Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT).
¹Blue Economy Knowledge Centre, Seychelles. Nature Seychelles 2019.
http://blueeconomyseychelles.org/about
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