Africa could generate up to $17 billion in additional GDP and create as many as 3.3 million jobs by doubling production of blue foods, including fish, shellfish, crustaceans and aquatic plants, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum and Boston Consulting Group.
The report, Investing in Blue Foods: Innovation and Partnerships for Impact, frames the continent’s underdeveloped aquaculture and fisheries sector as a major workforce opportunity, particularly for smallholders, women-led processors and rural communities. It estimates that scaling the sector could also reduce Africa’s protein gap with the rest of the world by a quarter.
Currently, Africa produces 13.1 million tonnes of blue foods annually, but productivity losses constrain job and income growth. Up to one-third of output is lost post-harvest, feed costs account for 70–80% of production expenses, well above global averages, and disease outbreaks can erase entire harvests. Without intervention, per capita consumption could decline by 2032 as population growth outpaces supply.
The report highlights five workforce-intensive areas for innovation: lower-cost feed inputs, AI-powered monitoring and precision feeding, improved hatcheries and vaccines, better processing and cold-chain logistics, and circular waste solutions. Examples already in use include solar dryers supporting women processors, solar-powered cold rooms reducing spoilage, and digital tools helping farmers improve yields.
For employers and policymakers, the message is clear: coordinated investment in training, technology and infrastructure could formalise jobs, improve incomes and build resilient rural employment. The forum’s Food Innovation Hubs initiative and new partnerships, including a hub in Ghana, aim to align public and private action to scale these gains.
Treating blue foods as core economic infrastructure rather than a niche, the report argues, could make the sector a significant engine of inclusive growth and workforce creation across the continent.