Congo Basin Blue Economy

Strategic Foresight Group supported the Brazzaville Foundation for Peace and Conservation in convening a meeting of Congolese experts to discuss cooperation between Congo Basin countries to develop Blue Economy and reduce dependence on forests.

The Experts meeting took place on 13-14 September at Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

The delegation was led by Sir David Richmond, CEO of Brazzaville Foundation, and included SFG senior leadership. They met with 

- HE Denis Sassour Nuesso, President of Republic of Congo

- HE Jean-Claude Gakosso, Minister of Foreign Affairs

- HE Mr Henri Djombo, Minister of State for Agriculture

- Judith Enaw, Secretary General, CICOS

- Experts from  the Ministry of Environment of Congo

among other officials.

The discussion focussed on strategies to shift the economic base of Congo Basin countries from forests to water resources. As the Congo forests are considered 'second lung" of the earth, it is important to protect them. This requires creating a new economic paradigm, which in turn requires inventing new financial instruments.

The Brazzaville Foundation will work with the Government of Congo and other countries in the basin to create such a paradigm shift as a result of the experts meeting. A number of concrete steps are planned for the coming month with intellectual input from the Strategic Foresight Group.