The Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries received in audience on Wednesday, September 03, 2026, a delegation from the European Union and Expertise France, leader of the Sustainable and Economic Ocean Program in Central Africa.

At the centre of the discussions: the Economic Facility, one of the flagship projects of this regional programme, implemented by Expertise France.

Presented by the European delegation, this EU-funded programme approved in June 2020, started its first activities in October 2025, with a gradual roll-out planned for 2026. It is part of an EU continental strategy that covers almost all African coasts through four regional programmes: West Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa and East Africa.

Replicating West African success

According to the head of delegation, the objective is to capitalize on the “very important” results obtained in West Africa in the field of fisheries to upgrade Central Africa.

A major challenge: the sub-region has 2,800 kilometres of coastline, with very contrasting coastlines – from 30 km in the DRC to 800 km in Cameroon – with a strong potential in the blue economy, fisheries and aquaculture, but also many challenges.

Among the challenges identified: the need for capacity building, the lack of regional strategic documents on the ocean, the fight against IUU (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated) fishing and the conservation of marine biodiversity, in line with the EU’s 2030 targets on marine protected areas.

For MINEPIA, this program directly supports the PIISAH 2024-2026, one of the pillars of which is to reduce fish imports by 40% by increasing national production from 224,900 to 602,500 tons.

The Economic Facility should support the structuring of sectors, the financing of actors and the upgrading of artisanal and industrial fishing activities.

The two parties agreed to continue technical exchanges in the coming weeks for the operational implementation in Cameroon.