From Marseille to Mombasa, from Dakar to Lisbon, the ocean is no longer a boundary. It is the blue thread of our shared future, a vital space where sovereignty, stability, and sustainability converge. It nourishes, connects, regulates, transports, and can become the foundation for a new chapter in the Africa-Europe partnership. By Pascal Lamy and Nacy Karigithu. As the two continents prepare to meet next week in Luanda for the 7th AU–EU Summit, the global context demands greater ambition. Climate crisis, energy insecurity, and resource pressures: in the face of these interconnected challenges, the blue economy emerges as a strategic lever to revive cooperation on concrete, sustainable, and mutually beneficial grounds.
This vision was reaffirmed during the 3rd Blue Africa Summit (BAS), held in Tangier in October 2025, where African leaders, European partners, and multilateral actors acknowledged the urgency of joining forces to build a regenerative blue economy.
A major initiative emerged from Tangier: the creation of an Africa–Mediterranean–Europe network of marine protected areas, in line with the Kunming-Montreal Agreement aiming to preserve 30% of marine zones by 2030, and the establishment of an Africa–Europe Ocean Innovation and Finance Hub, designed to stimulate joint blue innovation, strengthen shared competitiveness, promote green industrialization, and accelerate sustainable investment.
Source: latribune
