Asia just put $6 billion on its ocean. Where is ours?

Fishmongers at Ghana's Tema harbour report that fishermen venture farther out to sea, spend more time at sea, and return with smaller catches. Rising fuel costs, aging nets, and a reluctance of banks to finance fishing operations have combined to make the industry less profitable. Ironically, despite Ghana's abundant ocean resources, the country is importing fish to feed its citizens.

In September 2026, the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Masato Kanda announced plans to mobilize up to $6 billion between 2026 and 2030 for the ASEAN Blue Economy Initiative. This funding will support fisheries, aquaculture, coastal resilience, and port-linked value chains, emphasizing that the ocean is not just an environmental issue, but a critical economic foundation for Southeast Asia.

The ADB's decision to invest in the region reflects the vast economic potential of the world's oceans. Southeast Asia accounts for about one-fifth of global fisheries and aquaculture output, and its ports, coastal logistics, and tourism generate millions of jobs. However, this natural wealth is threatened by pollution, overfishing, and the degradation of coastal ecosystems.

Coastal floods alone could cost the region $11.5 billion annually. By investing $6 billion over five years to safeguard these assets, the ADB is not being generous, but rather making a sound investment.

The ADB's initiative has several noteworthy features. First, it is part of a larger $30 billion package the bank intends to allocate to ASEAN priorities by 2030, indicating that the ocean has moved from being an afterthought to a central focus of development finance. Second, the initiative treats the sea and land as an integrated system, investing in waste management and water services upstream, as most marine pollution originates from urban areas.

Third, the initiative seeks to attract private capital through innovative financing mechanisms rather than relying solely on public funds.

Despite its rich ocean resources, Africa still lacks a dedicated, continental blue investment window of the scale that the ADB has established for Southeast Asia. While African countries possess significant ocean wealth—estimated at over $298 billion annually and employing more than 40 million people—there is a notable gap between policy and implementation.

The African Union adopted the Africa Blue Economy Strategy in 2019, and the African Development Bank (AfDB) supports blue economy initiatives, including a new marine science scholarship program. However, Africa does not currently have a dedicated, continental fund for blue economy investments on the scale of the ADB's $6 billion commitment.

Several African countries have demonstrated the potential for blue finance. Seychelles turned part of its national debt into ocean protection through a debt-for-nature swap in 2016 and issued the world's first sovereign blue bond in 2018. Gabon completed a similar debt-for-nature conversion in 2023. These examples show that African nations can pioneer blue finance when the proper structures are in place.

Ghana, too, has taken steps to advance its blue economy. The country passed the Fisheries and Aquaculture Act in 2025, declared its first Marine Protected Area at Cape Three Points, and approved a National Blue Economy Strategy with six pillars, including blue finance. The Vice President announced an Aquaculture Development Fund in October 2025.

However, these initiatives are still in the early stages, and Ghana has not yet fully costed its National Blue Economy Strategy or articulated a clear financing plan for Ghanaians. Without a concrete investment roadmap, the strategy remains a mere blueprint.

To bridge the funding gap and capitalize on its ocean resources, Africa needs to establish an Africa Blue Economy Facility. The AfDB should lead this initiative, creating a blue investment window of at least $6 billion for the period 2027-2031, co-financed by Afreximbank, the Africa Finance Corporation, regional development banks, and climate funds.

The focus should be on fisheries, aquaculture, ports, coastal resilience, and pollution control. To attract bankable projects, a project preparation fund should assist countries in developing investment-ready proposals with clear revenue streams, risks, and returns. Utilizing innovative financing instruments such as blue bonds, debt-for-nature swaps, guarantees, and blended finance, as demonstrated by Seychelles and Gabon, can leverage private capital alongside public funds.

Additionally, investing in ocean data, including shared stock assessments, coastal mapping, and pollution monitoring, is essential to provide the necessary information for investors to assess risks and returns. Lastly, Ghana must develop a comprehensive national blue investment plan, assigning a monetary value to its blue economy strategy, with an aspirational target of $6 billion over a decade.