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Ruto pitches Kenya as Global Ocean Summit host in 2026
20th August, 2025 03:02 PM
President William Ruto has officially invited world leaders to Kenya for the 11th Our Ocean Conference, scheduled for March 2026, positioning the country as a continental hub for blue economy innovation and ocean sustainability.
Speaking on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) in Japan, President Ruto said the summit will place Africa’s ocean economy at the heart of global dialogue on sustainable development, food security, and climate resilience.
“Let me take this occasion to welcome all of you to Kenya next year, in March, for the Ocean Conference, where we will be discussing African opportunities in the blue economy space,” the Head of State said.
The President underscored Africa’s untapped potential in the ocean economy, noting that the continent could make significant contributions to global food security and sustainable agriculture through strategic use of marine resources.
“We believe that Africa can contribute significantly to food security, sustainable agriculture, and sustainable marine blue economy,” he asserted.
A key focus, Ruto said, will be reducing post-harvest losses in the fishing sector and scaling value addition through cold chain logistics, landing infrastructure, and technology-driven processing.
“As things stand today, most of what comes out of our oceans and rivers either does not find its way into the market because of post-harvest losses,” he noted.
“We will be looking at interventions in ensuring that there are cold chain facilities, fish landing sites, and sufficient value addition capabilities, using expertise, using technology, using knowledge that has been gathered globally.”
Boosting scientific innovation
Ruto also announced that the 2026 conference will serve as a platform for scientific research, innovation, and international collaboration, with emphasis on sharing best practices and new knowledge across borders.
“This will be an opportunity for us to exchange experiences, for us to look into new knowledge, areas of research, making sure that we harness the body of knowledge that has been gathered for the progress of the world,” he said.
He urged Japan to support youth engagement in the blue economy, warning that the sector remains largely dominated by ageing populations.
“We will be asking Japan to see whether they can support the youth segment, because we intend to have a whole youth involvement segment,” he said.
“The statistics show that in our continent, the majority of the farmers, the majority of the people in the agricultural sector are older people. Therefore, we want to make sure that we bring young people, their energy, their expertise, their knowledge, their innovation into the agricultural space.”
The President said Kenya was ready and excited to host the global community for the high-level ocean summit.
“It will be an exciting moment for us as a continent to host this Ocean Conference in Kenya, and we invite Japan to partner with us as we work with the rest of the global community,” he said.
The Our Ocean Conference, launched in 2014 by former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, is one of the world’s most influential platforms for marine protection and sustainable ocean governance. It has generated over 2,600 commitments valued at more than 23.2 trillion shillings in funding and policy action across six key areas: marine protected areas, the sustainable blue economy, climate change, maritime security, sustainable fisheries, and marine pollution.
Reacting to Kenya’s selection as host, Tom Pickerell, Head of the Ocean Panel Secretariat and Global Director of the World Resources Institute’s Ocean Program, said:
“Kenya has long been an advocate and leader on ocean issues, as an active member of the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (Ocean Panel), the host of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and a pioneer in ambitious policies to tackle plastic pollution and foster a sustainable ocean economy.”
Kenya previously co-hosted the inaugural UN Ocean Conference pre-conference in Nairobi in 2022, reinforcing its global leadership in ocean sustainability.
