The six coastal counties under the Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani (JKP) have unveiled a $1.2 billion (about Sh156 billion) blue economy multi-agency action plan targeting sustainable economic growth across the coast upto 2030.
The plan focuses on sustainable investment in fisheries, ports, maritime transport, tourism and green energy at its core.
The plan, dubbed Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani Blue Economy Multi-Agency Action Plan (JKP-BEMAP) 2026 to 2030 came up at the just-concluded eleventh edition of the Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa and officially launched on Friday afternoon at the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) headquarters in Mombasa.
It has been billed as a bold step towards stronger coordination, sustainable investment and inclusive growth across our coastal counties.
It brings together national and county governments, maritime regulators, private investors and development partners.
JKP chair and Tana River Governor Major (Rtd) Dhadho Godhana described the plan as a product of wide community and institutional engagement, saying the document had been developed through extensive consultation at all levels.
"This plan has involved all communities, all counties, institutions all the way to the governors, and it was finally published. Today is when we have come to ratify that this is indeed the specific plan to run our programmes as the counties under the JKP," said Godhana.
JKP technical advisor Dr Edwin Odera, an economist from Moi University, outlined the financing structure, saying 35 percent of the total amount or about $US420 million (Sh54 billion) would come from national government blue economy budget lines, while county governments would contribute 20 percent from their relevant departmental budgets.
The combined 55 percent government commitment is designed to anchor negotiations with development partners, who are expected to provide a further 20 percent, with private sector investors expected to fill the remaining gap.
"An investor may only want to put his money where there is already success and lower risk. Odera said. That is what we are coming in with, a plan," he said.
A blue-green bond instrument targeting approximately $400 million (about Sh52 billion) has also been established to attract private and international capital.
JKP chief executive officer Dr Emmanuel Nzai confirmed the bond has been endorsed by the Capital Markets Authority and the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
"It is an instrument which can bring private sector participation and global finance which always trust a bond framework," Nzai said.
The plan is built around sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, maritime transport, ports and logistics, coastal and marine tourism, environmental sustainability and blue carbon, renewable energy and green-blue growth and value addition, industrialisation and innovation.
It covers Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale, Lamu, Tana River and Taita Taveta counties, which together hold significant maritime assets, including Mombasa port and the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor.
Nzai noted the plan is timed to conclude alongside Kenya Vision 2030, saying the counties are in countdown mode to accelerate implementation across each sector.
"The blue economy is a high-growth sector, and the opportunities are very clear," Nzai said.
KMA director general Mr Omae Nyarandi said the agency co-developed the plan and will remain involved in monitoring and evaluation.
"We have supported the development of this multi-agency action plan, and we are going to remain committed to supporting them," Nyarandi said.
Nyarandi added that KMA plans to train 15,000 coxswains along the Coast and provide certification to improve safety on Kenyan waters.
He highlighted a major global energy transition on the horizon, noting that in October this year, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is expected to vote on a net-zero framework that will require the global shipping industry to shift away from fossil fuels.
Nyarandi said Kenya is already exploring green hydrogen production along the Coast as a potential opportunity in that transition.
"We have already done the feasibility studies, and we know we can be ahead in that industry," he said.
Odera, who has previously supported similar multi-agency action plans for the Lake Region Economic Bloc and the Frontier Counties Development Council, said the JKP-BEMAP model is designed to avoid the pitfalls of externally-driven development projects.
"Previously in Kenya, we realised a situation where issues like this are organised externally, a development partner comes, does a plan without consulting the locals, and then when the projects fail, they blame the locals," Odera said.
"This is a real transformation of the bottom-up economic transformation agenda in Kenya, where we began with the people's plan."
The ultimate goal, Odera said, is for the State Department for Blue Economy and Fisheries to consolidate the JKP, the Frontier Counties Development Council, and the Lake Region plans into a single national framework.
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