African Nations and Blue Economy Initiatives: Demands an Urgent Place in Its Foreign Policy Approach
摘要
Globalization showing tremendous economic growth led countries to open their boundaries for trade and commerce along with adopting a roadmap to interact with other countries in order to build good relationship by framing a strong Foreign Policy. Today, there are many factors that can influence the foreign policy of any country. Expand in trade and commerce no doubt brought economic growth but the other negative side to it is reflected in the debate and discussion of climate change. Among several issues emerged from Climate Change “Blue Economy (BE)” has drawn attention of the academicians, foreign policy experts, NGOs, various stakeholders, etc. The significance of marine resources and its rational use is the result of over exploitation of resources under water. It has many opportunities to boost economies, improve people’s quality of life, create job opportunities while protecting the sustainability of the ocean ecosystem. African Union is one step ahead to enhance its own economy by effectively implementing the Blue Economy. However, taking different case studies from African Union from different geographical locations like Seychelles and Mauritius, a comparative study can be done for better understanding and overcoming the challenges. Plenty of literatures are available on Blue Economy, their opportunities and challenges particularly in Africa. But the underexplored area in blue economy is how the Foreign Policy of the African Union can act in an instrumental way and can help to promote their interest and can seek cooperation from other countries to address the challenges. The approach adopted is sustainable development which focuses on the cooperation of developed and developing countries and ensuring to achieve SDG 14. With this approach the article will focus on how the African Union will capitalize on the recent development of Blue Economy by getting support and cooperation from developed countries like Blue Finance, etc., which can only be reflected in the foreign policy.