We worked with the British High Commission in South Africa to advise on how innovative financing could foster self-sustaining ocean economies in six Southern African countries.
What was the challenge?
Awareness of the role of oceans in planetary and socioeconomic health has risen steadily since the United Nations announced the new Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 – ‘Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development’ – in 2016. When in 2018, the World Bank launched the world’s first Seychelles-based sovereign blue bond, excitement rippled through the governments of coastal countries and small island developing states on the potential for the ‘blue economy’ to drive socioeconomic and ecological benefit. The British High Commission in South Africa, on behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), wished to gain a deeper understanding of the potential for ocean economies in Southern African countries as part of its continued support for socio-economic development in the region, as well as work to achieve SDG 14. “The UK is world-renowned for its ability to foster economic and environmental capital, plus security, by supporting maritime industries. We set out to explore opportunities to leverage this expertise in Southern Africa,” said Tom Liebenberg, Skills for Prosperity Programme Manager, Prosperity Fund Team, Southern Africa, FCDO. With a coastline stretching 2,850 kilometres, Southern African countries' ocean economies are ripe for expansion and the FCDO’s initial research had identified hundreds of potential maritime projects in six countries: Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius and Mozambique. However, the FCDO required an assessment of activities and innovative financing in order to identify the most promising ocean economies sectors, subsectors, and projects to attract private sector investment. We were selected to provide this assessment due to our extensive knowledge of innovative green finance mechanisms, along with our experience of building analysis frameworks, conducting in-depth research, designing technical and financial methodologies and strategies, and stakeholder engagement.How did we help?
In phase one, we conducted a review of the ocean economies in six Southern African countries. The aim was to identify sectors, subsectors and projects that show potential to attract sustainable private sector investment and understand what ‘blue’ or sustainable activities were taking place in these sectors and how they were being funded. Using this analysis and a more in depth assessment of the projects, we prioritised them based on their:- ability to attract private finance
- ability to act as catalysts for further investment by the private sector
- attractiveness to host governments