Fact Checker: Why President Uhuru's figures on the marine economy seem underestimated: Kenya

To what extent does Kenya's maritime sector contribute to the country's economy?

This is the central question, as thousands of delegates from 180 countries gather this week at the Kenyatta International Convention Center in Nairobi for the conference on the sustainable blue economy.

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Kenya is organizing the event with Japan and Canada. Participants considered economic and regulatory models of waterways as resources for food, energy, transport, minerals, water, recreation and health.

"Kenya's blue economy accounts for only 2.5% of our absolute GDP, which is about 180 billion shillings," said President Uhuru Kenyatta at the launch of Kenya's Coast Guard Service this week last.

"Fully exploited, our blue economy could easily triple its current share of GDP and create jobs and immense prosperity for millions of Kenyans."

An badysis of the country's maritime sector, however, indicates that President Kenyatta's figures underestimate the real and potential economic value of the country's marine resources.

A report from the United Nations Environment Program earlier this year, which examines the potential of Kenya's blue economy, more than doubles that figure.

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"Fishing accounts for only about 0.5% of GDP and generates jobs for over two million Kenyans, including fishing, boat building, equipment repair, fish processing and other ancillary activities. Explains the UNDP in part. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics for Kenya indicate that fishing and aquaculture contributed 36.6 billion shillings to the total of 8.1 billion shillings of the country's GDP in 2017 – a contribution of 2, 9%.
However, the blue economy is not limited to fishing and extends the range of goods and services that waterways must provide to nearby residents.

"The estimated annual economic value of goods and services of the marine and coastal ecosystem of the blue economy in the western Indian Ocean is greater than 2.2 billion shillings ($ 22 billion), Kenya's share slightly surpbades 40 billion shillings ($ 4.4 billion) with the tourism sector taking the lion's share of more than 410 billion shillings ($ 4.1 billion), according to estimates by Kenya Marine Authority, "explained UNDP in part.Investment in Kenya's blue economy is also expected to increase revenue from transport and tourism, taking advantage of the lakefront property, at the edge of Lake Victoria.

"In terms of inland waterway transport, Kenya uses less of its part of Lake Victoria than Uganda and Tanzania, despite the country's considerable potential for using relatively low-cost waterway transport to promote trade with Kenya." 'Uganda and Tanzania by the port of Kisumu,' explains a policy document of the state entity, the Kenya Roads Board.

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