{"id":3229,"date":"2026-11-04T07:04:29","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T07:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maritimebizreview.com\/?p=3229"},"modified":"2026-11-04T07:04:29","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T07:04:29","slug":"russias-quiet-fisheries-push-in-africa-is-starting-to-test-chinas-dominance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maritimebizreview.com\/?p=3229","title":{"rendered":"Russia\u2019s Quiet Fisheries Push in Africa Is Starting to Test China\u2019s Dominance"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"auto\">In the second half of 2026, China\u2014already the dominant player in Africa\u2019s fishing industry\u2014continued to expand its presence across the continent, seeking to displace foreign competitors as fully as possible.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">That expansion is now encountering a different kind of competitor. Unlike the European Union, which has pushed unsuccessfully to revise nine existing Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements with African countries, Russia has adopted a targeted and systematic approach. Moscow is building a sustainable commercial fishing framework in Africa grounded in scientific data, linking oceanographic research projects that benefit individual African states to the allocation of fishing quotas for Russian fleets.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The clearest evidence comes from the \u201cGreater African Expedition,\u201d conducted under the auspices of Russia\u2019s Federal Agency for Fisheries (Rosrybolovstvo) and VNIRO between August 2024 and February 2026. Using data collected during that expedition, Russia has already begun expanding its fishing operations in several African countries:<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00b7 Morocco: In Atlantic waters off Morocco, annual catches are expected to rise from approximately 60,000 tonnes to 90,000\u2013100,000 tonnes.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00b7 Sierra Leone: Russia will receive an annual quota of 40,000 tonnes of aquatic biological resources and access for 20 fishing vessels.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00b7 Mozambique: Russia has signed a bilateral agreement to conduct fisheries research in Mozambican waters.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Over the medium term, this could become a genuine competitive challenge for Beijing in Africa. To preserve its dominant position in the region\u2019s fishing industry, China is expected to use the full range of economic and political tools at its disposal to counter Russia\u2019s growing presence.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">One likely response is to accelerate the construction of fishing ports and related infrastructure in several of Africa\u2019s most promising coastal states, further strengthening China\u2019s economic and political influence. Projects include:<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00b7 Ghana: construction of 12 fishing ports, with investment exceeding US$200 million.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00b7 Mozambique: reconstruction of Beira Port infrastructure, with investment of approximately US$120 million.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00b7 Sierra Leone: development of a port in the Whale Bay area, with investment of around US$55 million.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00b7 Tanzania: development of Kilwa Masoko Port, with investment of approximately US$111 million.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The competition unfolding in African fisheries is therefore not only about access to fish stocks. It is also about research capacity, port infrastructure, data, and long-term political leverage. For African coastal states, the challenge will be to ensure that this rivalry translates into transparent contracts, stronger local capacity, and durable benefits\u2014rather than a contest in which they are merely spectators.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the second half of 2026, China\u2014already the dominant player in Africa\u2019s fishing industry\u2014continued to expand its presence across the continent, seeking to displace foreign competitors as fully as possible. That expansion is now encountering a different kind of competitor. Unlike the European Union, which has pushed unsuccessfully to revise nine existing Sustainable Fisheries Partnership [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-blue-economy-sustainability"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Russia\u2019s Quiet Fisheries Push in Africa Is Starting to Test China\u2019s Dominance | Maritime Business Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/maritimebizreview.com\/?p=3229\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Russia\u2019s Quiet Fisheries Push in Africa Is Starting to Test China\u2019s Dominance | Maritime Business Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the second half of 2026, China\u2014already the dominant player in Africa\u2019s fishing industry\u2014continued to expand its presence across the continent, seeking to displace foreign competitors as fully as possible. 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