By Ebunoluwa Sessou

The Center for Gender Economics in Africa, CGE Africa, has concluded plans to hold its 2025 Gender and Blue Economy Conference, aimed at encouraging mentorship and bringing more female students on board to take advantages embedded in the blue economy.

CGE Africa which was established in March 2011 as a research, advocacy, and advisory NGO to work with policymakers, leaders, and communities to address economic inequality, promote gender equity, and enhance financial security for women is poised to focus on blue economy and opportunities both in Nigeria and globally to empower more women in the fisheries sector.

During its one-day technical planning meeting for the 2025 Gender and Blue Economy Conference, the stakeholders which were drafted from academia, business and other spaces brainstormed on how to chart a course to better the system.

Speaking, the CGE Africa’s Executive Director, Uchenna Idoko, disclosed that the upcoming conference is aimed at fostering women’s leadership in fisheries and aquaculture for climate change resilience in Nigeria. Adding that, the initiative is crucial in addressing the underrepresentation of women in leadership roles within this sector, particularly in the context of climate change resilience.

“As part of our ongoing efforts to advance gender equality and climate resilience in the blue economy sector, we have concluded plans to organize the 2025 conference which is our second Gender and Blue Economy Conference.

“The Blue economy is a sector that needs attention. It is a sector that people have not harnessed its potentials as it is expected and women are missing in the leadership position.

“Today, men are at the forefront of leadership and the supply chain while women are missing. So, we want to beam the searchlight on gender and blue economy for women to begin to take their rightful positions.

“At the conference, there will be a policy drafted to cater to gender responsiveness and the practices in the sector would be targeted towards women. After the conference, the sector actors would begin to push women towards taking their place in the blue economy and gaining from transactions that are happening in the blue economy and leading overtime”, she said.

The anchor, Prof Emeka Mdimele, Head of Department of Fisheries, Lagos State of University, speaking on the expectation of the conference in November 2025, said, “There is a shift of direction to the in the blue economy in the continent and so it is important to harness the opportunities in the blue economy.

“The conference will showcase all the different aspects of blue economy, the benefit of the system as well as the importance of global acceptance about what we have under water and this would give people in the academia and students alike, the opportunity to showcase some of the researches they have done on the issues around the blue economy.

“It will also be a platform for other stakeholders in the blue economy to showcase what they have. It will be a conference that would bring all stakeholders in the blue economy together and chart a course forward on what we can do to better the system.

“The conference would bridge the gap in the blue economy and identify the female students in fisheries and mentor them as well as the doctoral students in fisheries and train them so as to be able to train the undergraduates.

“This would open up lots of spaces to profile fisheries as a sector as well as to identify and understand what fisheries is all about and to encourage people to come into the sector.

“Presently, there is a big challenge to bring people into the fisheries and agric sector. This programme would help to highlight all the opportunities in fisheries and students would be encouraged to take on fisheries as a profession.

“This initiative would boost our economy in Nigeria. The truth is that we have not scratched the surface when it comes to opportunities inherent in fisheries. People are familiar with aquaculture which is one aspect of fisheries. We have not fully harnessed other segments of fisheries. Nigeria is the second largest producer of farm fish in Africa behind Egypt. If we diversify fisheries, we will be able to meet our demands”, he said.

Dr. Funmilayo Arowoogun, said, “The blue economy conference would be an opportunity for students and other stakeholders to identify the missing link”, she said.