The theme of the event is ‘Making money through sustainable fisheries’. The exhibition will showcase equipment, machinery, products from SmartFish beneficiaries, new technologies, potential for innovations, servicing the small-scale sector for processing, value addition, drying, packaging, labelling etc. Value chains for the octopus fisheries, shrimp fisheries, tuna fisheries, crab & sea cucumber fisheries etc., will be showcased.

This forum will target new avenues for market and trade development by promoting adapted technologies and investment opportunities.

The fisheries sector in Africa employs 12.3 million people. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the global fish trade is growing at a rate of five percent annually. The SmartFish Programme is the largest EU-funded fisheries programme in Africa, implemented by the Indian Ocean Commission.