• The Chamber of Aquaculture Ghana plans to mobilize $10 million over 10 years to scale fisheries and aquaculture businesses.

• Ghana faces an annual fresh fish supply deficit of nearly 700,000 tonnes despite exporting 44% of domestic production.

• National fish catches fell 22.6% between 1999 and 2023, while aquaculture output nearly doubled between 2019 and 2023.

The Chamber of Aquaculture Ghana (COA) plans to launch the Blue Food Innovation Hub on Wednesday, February 25, in partnership with the World Economic Forum. COA announced the initiative in a press release published on February 24.

COA designed the innovation center to accelerate technology transfer and strengthen producers’ technical skills. The hub aims to foster collaboration among start-ups, researchers, investors and technical partners across aquaculture and fisheries. The initiative seeks to address high input costs, climate resilience challenges and limited market access.

“The hub will provide solutions to major challenges such as lack of access to finance and markets, low technology adoption and knowledge gaps among sector players. It will transform the blue foods sector, particularly inland aquaculture, and provide small businesses struggling to scale with the resources they need to grow,” Jacob Adzikah, CEO of COA, said in comments relayed by local media outlet My Joy Online.

Mobilizing $10 million by 2036

COA aims to mobilize about $10 million in investment over the next decade through the operationalization of the Blue Food Innovation Hub. Adzikah said the funds will support fisheries and aquaculture enterprises, promote sustainable aquaculture practices and strengthen local processing to improve competitiveness in regional and international markets.

“The Hub will initially launch an acceleration program to support a group of start-ups and SMEs, making them investment-ready and capable of scaling,” COA said in a statement.

The initiative complements broader government efforts to expand aquaculture and promote sustainable fishing practices. In October 2025, Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang announced that the government planned to establish a development fund to improve access to finance in aquaculture, upgrade infrastructure and accelerate research and technology transfer in the fast-growing sector.

Earlier, in December 2025, the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture said it had opened discussions with researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada to strengthen governance and sustainability across the fisheries sector.

Data compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization show that Ghana’s inland and marine fish catches declined 22.6%, falling from 496,770 tonnes in 1999 to 384,370 tonnes in 2023. Meanwhile, aquaculture production nearly doubled, rising from 52,360 tonnes in 2019 to 100,000 tonnes in 2023.

Total fish production in the former Gold Coast reached 484,412 tonnes in 2023, with 44% allocated to exports, while apparent consumption stood at nearly 798,128 tonnes, according to FAO data. Official estimates from the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture in 2026 put the country’s annual fresh fish supply deficit at close to 700,000 tonnes.

Stéphanas Assocle