Industry Leaders Unite to Accelerate Sustainable Development of African Aquaculture

The African Aquaculture Business Leaders Network (AABLN), was established in late 2024, bringing together 22 leaders from companies from across the continent and supply chain who have a shared vision of aquaculture playing a greater role in meeting food security, health, climate and socio-economic goals in the region.

“There is huge unrealized potential in African aquaculture; with greater investment and growth there is the opportunity to not only feed more people in a healthy a sustainable way but give more employment opportunities to local communities and the next generation. Africa is a huge under-served market, rich in natural resources with a young population eager to innovate. If we act now, aquaculture can be part of the region’s promising future,” added Caesar Asiyo, Chief Development Officer, Victory Farms and Chair of the AABLN.

Utilizing the pre-competitive collaboration model pioneered by Global Salmon Initiative (GSI), the AABLN aims to drive positive impact and advance its mission through collective action.

The AABLN members recognize they share similar challenges around sector development; while some challenges can be worked on individually, there is potential to achieve much greater impact by working together.

The AABLN will be working together to mobilize collective action on sustainable development topics, and have outlined initial work-areas including:

– Increasing awareness of opportunities in the aquaculture sector, most notably with the investment community
– Supporting wider sharing of technology between companies and regions to increase sustainability performance and overall productivity
– Increasing training and skills development, with a focus on supporting greater inclusion and empowerment of women
– Building greater awareness and understanding of biosecurity challenges
– Supporting the development of small holders

GSI is proud to be supporting AABLN and providing secretariat support as well as through over a decade of experience uniting business leaders to mobilize change at speed and scale.

Building off the momentum started in 2024, the AABLN is reconvening alongside the World Aquaculture Society Conference in Entebbe, Uganda in June 2025.

The founding members of AABLN include: Aceli Africa, Aller Aqua, AquaRech, Aqua Spark, Belona Fish Farm, Chicoa Fish Farm, Eden Group, Flosell Farms, Gatsby Africa, Lake Harvest, Nutreco, Ranaan Fish Feed, Royal De Heus, Rio Fish, Samaky Hub, Sekunjalo Group, Stallion Group, Sustain Aquaculture, Tropo Farms, Victory Farms, Yalelo Farms and Zoetis

GSI and AABLN welcome and encourage any African aquaculture producers who share in the network’s mission to get in touch (email gsiadmin@globalsalmoninitiative.org) to learn more.