Foreword

This book has been developed out of curiosity and concerns that the growing tensions between states over maritime boundaries, vulnerabilities of landlocked states, and the fragility of seas and coastal spaces are significant factors shaping the success or failure of the renewed efforts in the development of blue economy in Africa. The thoughts and the research inquiry in this work were motivated by the first Global Conference on Blue Economy that was co-hosted between Kenya and Canada in Nairobi, November 2018. Earlier on, in 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (RIO+20) had initiated the debate on the need for an integrated approach to the exploitation of oceans and seas, as the pathway to sustaining regional and international cooperation.