Kenya is set to become the first African country to host the Our Ocean Conference and with Africa’s leadership in ocean action in the spotlight, the search for bankable Blue Economy projects has become a regional priority.
By Blue Africa News
African delegations set to attend this year’s Our Ocean Conference (OOC) in Kenya have been urged to present concrete, investment-ready proposals to attract funding and accelerate growth in the blue economy sector across the continent.
The delegations, expected to bring together representatives from agencies, governments and financial institutions will play a key role in advancing Africa’s maritime and ocean-based development agenda.
Kenya’s Mombasa and Kilifi counties will host the 11th Our Ocean Conference (16-18 June 2026) under the theme of “Our Ocean, Our Heritage, Our Future,” with Gadfly Consulting Limited and the Blue Bond Accelerator (BBA) organising investor meeting on the margins of the conference to mobilise financing for sustainable blue economy projects across Africa.
The meeting, said Dr. Uche Igwe, a blue economy enthusiast and lead consultant at Gadfly Consulting Limited, will focus on unlocking innovative financial options for a sustainable blue economy in Africa.
“Basically, looking at options of mobilising resources through innovative options like blue bonds and basically to be able to mobilise resources to fund sustainable blue economy and ocean resilience related projects in the continent,” Dr. Igwe exclusively told Blue Africa News.
The meeting, added the consultant, will mobilise many organisations to present bankable projects for financing, allowing representatives of African governments and agencies to meet financiers “who have resources to deploy in the continent,” among them the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA).
“We are insisting that organisations that are coming should be able to make presentations of proposals of bankable projects before the financiers,” added Dr. Igwe.
Framing Our Ocean as the biggest conference on ocean, maritime and marine related issues in the world, the consultant said the last event held in April 2025 in Busan, South Korea, attracted more than 1,000 participants from more than 100 countries. “So, we’re expecting that beyond attending a side event, participants will also be able to attend the big conference and benefit from it.”
OOC was launched in 2014 by U.S. Department of State and former Secretary of State John Kerry. It is a major international platform that unites governments, businesses, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and academic institutions, with a view of driving ocean-related action and ambition.
United States of America (USA) in 2014 and 2016, Chile (2015), Malta (2017), Indonesia (2018), Norway (2019), Palau (2022), Panama (2023), Greece (2024) and South (2025) have hosted the conference previously, with Kenya set to become the first African nation to host the high-profile meeting.
“As the first Our Ocean Conference held on African soil, the conference will place a global spotlight on ocean action and leadership across Africa and highlight the unique coastal communities, biodiversity, and ecosystems of Kenya and East Africa,” OOC says on its website.
The 2026 conference is pegged on engaging the private sector and delivering investment in the sustainable blue economy, empowering and elevating young ocean leaders, catalysing ocean finance, collaboratively combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) and advancing marine conservation and restoration efforts.
Kenyan president William Ruto said the historic milestone offers our continent the chance to shape the global ocean agenda for the next decade. “Kenya is keen on protecting its oceans and harnessing blue resources responsibly for sustainable growth,” he said when he met Kerry on the sidelines of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA in September 2025.
He said Kenya will showcase Africa’s leadership in ocean action, “rallying nations and partners to protect marine ecosystems, expand the blue economy, and secure prosperity for generations to come.”
Tom Pickerell, Head of the Ocean Panel Secretariat and Global Director of World Resources Institute’s Ocean Program said Kenya was handed the baton to host the conference because of its ambitious policies to tackle plastic pollution and foster a sustainable ocean economy.
“As the first Our Ocean Conference to be held in Africa, Kenya will have the opportunity to draw global attention to the region’s priorities and challenges, ranging from ocean-climate resilience and sustainable fishing to maritime security, marine conservation, pollution and the sustainable ocean economy.”
Since 2014, the OOC has reportedly driven global action to protect marine environments, with over $140 billion pledged and 2,600 commitments worldwide, fostering sustainable solutions for ocean conservation.
By Oliver Ochieng, Blue Africa News