Shem Oirere is a Kenyan journalist who previously worked for daily newspapers as a general news correspondent, business reporter and sub-editor before turning to full-time freelancing. For the more than 20 years, he has covered various sectors of Africa’s economy including agriculture, food processing, and maritime industries. A graduate of the University of South Africa, he has traveled within and outside Africa covering various industry events that have a bearing on the continent’s economy on behalf of different international consumer and trade publications. He currently lives in Nairobi, Kenya.
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Cameroon is now looking to ship its seafood elsewhere after the European Commission issued a “red card,” effectively banning Cameroonian seafood exports.
On 5 January, 2023, the E.C. identified Cameroon as a noncooperating country in the fight against illegal fishing for continuing to “register fishing vessels under its flag without demonstrating its ability to effectively control and monitor their fishing activities,
… Read MoreThe government of Mauritius has launched new investment opportunities for private investors interested in developing the country’s semi-industrial demersal species fishing and processing sector.
The Mauritius Ministry of Blue Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries, and Shipping has launched an expression of interest seeking private companies with the capacity to “sustainably exploit the shallow-water demersal resources, mainly
… Read MoreThe stark population decline of the U.S. crab resource could be an opportunity to develop the species in the untapped African market.
U.S. President Joe Biden recently hosted the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit, which some in the seafood industry saw as a conducive forum for U.S.-based seafood companies to present a case in favor of investing in Africa’s crab industry to plug the gap created by falling outputs in the U.S.
SeafoodSource
… Read MoreThe Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) has picked the first six preferred aquaculture investors in the island nation’s mariculture sector as the government opens its fish-farming space to private investments.
A total of 15 investors applied for permits to launch aquaculture business projects, according to SFA.
SFA’s aquaculture department has awarded the fish-farming permits to ...
Photo courtesy of the Seychelles Fishing
… Read MoreCape Town, South Africa-based Sea Harvest Corporation, a subsidiary of seafood company Sea Harvest Group, has announced the three-year extension of its supply agreement with two related parties – Vuna Fishing Company and SeaVuna Fishing Company – for the exclusive right to purchase hake and related fish products.
SeaVuna Fishing Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vuna Fishing Company, which is a joint venture of Brimstone
… Read MoreOman Fisheries Company has appointed Nabeel Salim Rwidi to serve as the company’s new chief executive officer.
Rwidi replaces Sulaiman Al-Ghannami, who resigned on 10 October, 2022, “for personal reasons," one year after his appointment on 1 October, 2021.
Rwidi previously served as the CEO of Blue Waters LLC, a subsidiary of Fisheries Development Oman, which is part of the government-run Oman Investment
… Read MoreAn ongoing trial of suspects in the so-called “hidden debt” scandal in Mozambique reached a major milestone in early December when Ndambi Guebuza, son of former Mozambique President Armando Guebuza, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for taking a USD 33 million (EUR 31.3 million) bribe to perpetrate a corruption scheme involving the development of a tuna-fishing industry in the country.
Guebuza, together with 10 other people, were
… Read MoreSouth Africa-based Oceana Group saw increased revenue for the year ending 30 September 2022, driven by higher sales of its fishmeal and fish oil and positive pricing across most products.
According to the reviewed, condensed, and consolidated results for the year, the company’s revenue for its total operations, including commercial cold storage (CCS), increased by 11 percent to ZAR 8.4 billion (USD 486 million, EUR 461 million),
… Read MoreZimbabwe has unveiled a new 10-year plan to develop tilapia aquaculture, with an objective of increasing production of the species by 300 percent by 2032.
The plan is being spearheaded by FISH4ACP – a global fish value-chain development initiative of the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States – with the FAO as the implementer, while the E.U. and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
… Read MoreRecurring episodes of low oxygen levels are inflicting massive losses to aquaculture practitioners on Africa's Lake Victoria, as thousands of tilapia and Nile perch have died.
The lake, which borders Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, has seen fish die-offs due to low oxygen for the past two years, with scientists linking the phenomenon to climate change and unregulated development along the lake.
In October and November 2022, fish farms in Kenya's
… Read More