Africa’s “huge potential” to benefit from focusing on the Blue Economy is at risk due to “disagreements among African states,” according to a European Parliament report pubished earlier this year and titled “A maritime strategy for Africa”. The report calls on the European Union to become more involved in helping African countries to realise the potential of the blue economy. This would build on current European Union assistance to Africa. Maritime security was identified in May 2017 as one of the flagship EU-Africa partnership projects. There are also a number of scientific cooperation projects between the EU and African institutions. Africa does not have the resources to manage its oceans, in part due to the size of the challenge. Of the 54 African states, 38 have a coastal border. Together they total 48 000 km of coast and 13 million square kilometres of maritime zones.
