Senegal’s recent capture of a Russian vessel, Oleg Naydenov, for allegedly engaging in illegal fishing in Senegal waters should serve as a wake-up call to grow African enterprises that will supply global chains. Many incidents of Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing are rampant off African coastlines.  According to Haidar El-Ali, Fisheries Minister, about 50 such ships enter Senegalese territorial waters fraudulently from time to time, making the country to lose about 150bn CFA francs a year because of illegal fishing.

In 2012, a Somali participant shared similar illegal fishing episodes off Somalia coastline in Inter Region Economic Network's annual forum on “The Indian Ocean Rim: How Prepared is Africa?” The illegal fishing incidents are a pointer to the urgent need for African countries to invest in safeguarding their natural resources.

For centuries inability to manage and coordinate the vast resources in Africa has motivated external involvement in African affairs. The next decade is going to see a huge amount of value extracted from Africa – not only because of high commodity prices but because Africa is the last frontier for resource exploitation. Africans must grow indigenous enterprises keen on ensuring the growth of the continent and positioning it to serve the global hunger for resources.