Progress report for
Fostering cooperation to promote the sustainable development of Africas deep seabed resources in support to Africas Blue Economy
Achievement at a glance
This voluntary commitment was operationalised in the form of the Africa Deep Seabed Resources Project implemented by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in partnership with the African Union (to which African Mineral Development Centre was transferred) and with the financial assistance from the Government of Norway through the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). Three regional workshops were conducted under the ADSR project. The first workshop took place in Côte d'Ivoire (2018) and was followed by a workshop in South Africa (2019) and Mauritius (2021). As of June 2022, more than 200 participants have benefitted from these workshops. As part of the outcomes of these workshops is the development of policy recommendations to improve regional and international cooperation in support of Africa’s blue economy as well as the identification of specific capacity building suggestions to inform the development of a dedicated strategy at the end of the project. Furthermore, the ADSR project enabled the establishment of a National Experts Deployment programme through which ten national experts in geology and blue economy matters from different African States (Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia) have been selected to undertake a two-month placement with the ISA secretariat. Four out of the ten selected national experts are women. Additionally, a socio-economic and environmental cost-benefit assessment is being undertaken under the ADSR project to understand the relevance of engaging in activities related sustainable deep seabed resources in the international seabed area for the African States in relation to their blue economy is due for completion in November 2022.Challenges faced in implementation
The COVID-19 pandemic has generated significant challenges and delays to workshops and travel of national experts. All workshops and deployment of experts is expected to be completed by December 2022.Next Steps
Two remaining regional workshops are expected to take place in 2022. A policy synthesis outlining the key conclusions and recommendations from the stakeholder discussions during the five workshops will be prepared to inform African States, the African Union, ISA and other relevant entities.At the 2022 UN Ocean Conference, ISA has renewed this voluntary commitment. Activities under this voluntary commitment will continue to remain operational.
Beneficiaries
The ADSR project is targeted to benefit African States to fully benefit from sustainable development of their blue economies including through sustainable development of deep seabed minerals in accordance to their regional and national strategies such as the AU 2019 Blue Economy Strategy and the 2063 Agenda: The African we want. Accordingly, the ADSR project is designed to benefit nationals of African States - technical experts, decision-makers, and civil societies. As of June 2022, more than 200 stakeholders including government representatives from 33 African States (Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ghana, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo and Zambia have benefitted from different activities of the ADSR project.
Actions
The workshops that have been organized have led to increasing the awareness and understanding of the project beneficiaries of the legal regime of the international seabed area (the Area) including the concept of the “common heritage of humankind” and unfold some of the complexities pertaining to the discussion on equitable benefit sharing. They also provided unique opportunities to bring international, regional and national experts together under a common platform to discuss and exchange different perspectives on the legal, technical and scientific aspects attached to the legal regime of activities in the Area and to achieve the sustainable development of deep-sea mineral resources. Post-workshop surveys indicate that 97% of the participants were satisfied with the workshop with more than 80% of the respondents reporting that the workshops were effective in identified capacity-building needs and understating the importance of engagement of African States in work related to the Area.To support further capacity development of national experts and senior officials, national experts of African States are selected for deployment at the ISA Secretariat on matters related to ocean science and technology and ocean policy development under the National Experts Deployment Programme of the ADSR project. Former ADSR National Experts have reported to have made significant career progression upon return including leading technical teams.
To facilitate evidence-based and informed decision-making processes of African governments and civil societies, the ADSR project has undertook to commission a socio-economic and environmental assessment to improve the understanding of potential benefits to African States from engaging in the deep seabed mineral related activities in the Area.