PREAMBLE
:
Last week I wrote about the 2 distinctive donors mainly the WORLD BANK and the EUROPEAN UNION and their distinctive different funding features that their aimed to address in matters of the BLUE ECONOMY sector.
The WORLD BANK through the Government of Kenya jointly came up with over 100 billion dollars that was aimed to benefit the 5 Counties of the Coast region namely Tana, Lamu, Kilifi, Mombasa and the Kwale County.
This through a partnership with KEMFSED- the KENYA MARINE FISHERIES SOCIAL ECONOMIC DEVELOOMENT.
The EUROPEAN UNION through its GO BLUE project under the implementation is a partnership between the Government of Kenya and the European Union to advance the Blue Economy agenda through job creation and development.
The JKP - Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani which is a commonwealth entity under its economic block ONLY facilitated the receiving of this funding to the tune of 3.5 billion shillings from the European Union to tbe 6 Counties namely Tana, Lamu, Kilifi, Mombasa, Kwale and Taita.
Both KEMFSED and JKP are facilitators for the Government of Kenya the difference between the two is that KEMFSED is under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock whose human resources to do this job is in-house.
While the JKP is a special interest group mainly volunteers led by their CEO Emmanual Nzai whose aim is to get the 6 Counties to come together for the good of its community and to tape its huge commonwealth.
THE JUMUIYA YA KAUNTI ZA PWANI
The JKP- Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani
"Commonwealth" is a regional economic development organisation representing Kenya's 6 coastal Counties Tana, Lamu,Kilifi, Mombasa, Kwale and Taita.
The JKP vision is of Kenya Coast Regional Counties economy that creates wealth and shared prosperity for its communities.
The implementation of the Jumuiya's regional economic agenda is managed by the Governors Apex , 6 sector working groups and the JKP secretariat.
It's development startetgy and architecture is drawn from the Constitution, Devolution Act and the Kenya Vision 2030.
One of the 10 core pillars to realise the Jumuiya ambition is the Blue Economy and its value chains which is viewed as a lucrative and untapped potential that can easily transform the coastal region into an economic powerhouse and drive the changing the story narrative.
GO BLUE
The European Union EU has undertaken a joint initiative known as the GO BLUE across all the 6 Counties in the coast region of Kenya.
It is a Eur 24 750 000 grant in which the EU is working with implementing partners from 4 Member States agencies Germany, Italy, Portugal and France, the UN Habitat and UNEP this is done in close cooperation with the Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani and relevant Government Ministries at the National and County level.
IMPLEMENTING
PARTNERS
FUNDS ALLOCATION AND ACTIVITIES
GERMANY- implemented by GIZ
€ 7.45 million app ksh 980 million
This through skills development, training MSME support - Aquaculture
ITALY- implemented by AICS
€ 4.75 million app ksh 625 million
Small scale fisheries and Cassava value chain,Technical Assistance to JKP
PORTUGAL - implemented by Cameos
€ 1.59 million app ksh 210 million
Tourism and Culture Heritage promotion
FRANCE - implemented by France Expertise
€ 5 million app kes 660 million
Marine Securiy
UN HABITAT and UNEP
€ 7 million app kes 920 million
Connecting People , Cities and the Ocean" Innovative Land -Sea Planning and Management for Sustainable and Resilient Kenya Coast
CONCLUSION:
This is a fantastic approach that the JKP has managed to scheme and envision all through the wise leadership and expertise from the CEO EMMANUAL NZAI and his wise team we salute him for being that innovative and a head on schemer that I respect most humbly.
We at KECOBE and other like minded institutions that are under its umbrealla, have now understood and realised the bigger picture that is being propelled here, and we would wish to work and partner with JKP as an advocacy arm of the secretariat as well as enhancing the CHANGING OUR STORY narrative through Sustainable Development Objectives to the intended Coast communities County and the Country at large.
The author is passionate and very well informed of the BLUE ECONOMY sector and has written extensively on this subject and on several occasions, attended workshops, forums and conferences since the SBE 2018 and beyond so he can be able to tell our own seagoing stories.
Mbwana Abdalla Mohamed
Chairman KECOBE -PUSH - OTRA
5th November 2022
Go Blue. (2022, October 28). Home | Go Blue. https://www.goblue.co.ke/
Jumuiya ya Kaunti Za Pwani. (n.d.). Jumuiya ya Kaunti Za Pwani .A Kenyan coastal regional Bloc that creates wealth for its community. https://jumuiya.org/coast/