According to the most recent World Bank data, 26 of the 30 world’s poorest countries belong to the African continent. Yet Africa is immensely rich in terms of natural resources, which have always attracted foreign investments for drilling, mining, logging, fishing and so on. Because of these vast riches, Africa has long been the stage of some of the most violent of human behaviours, such as slavery and colonisation. 

In line with this history, the rich marine ecosystems along the African coastline have long been intensely exploited by “distant” fishing nations, chiefly from Europe — Africa was dubbed its “fish granary” [1]  — and Asia. 

As a result, fish populations around Africa are, by and large, overexploited, and the fishing capacity that is deployed in these waters is, quite literally, out of control. It is not just the health of marine ecosystems that is at stake, but also food security, political stability and ultimately, the inhabitability of our planet. 

On this page, we dive into these issues and provide key insight and ground-breaking analyses on fisheries in Africa. This page will regularly evolve as we make new revelations and publish new results.  

This campaign is based on years of research supported by OAK Foundation, the Waterloo Foundation, and the Agence française de développement.

NOTES:

[1] Alder and Sumaila (2004) Western Africa: A fish basket of Europe past and present.