AWSE26 Event structure and approach
The Expo will be delivered over two days, combining investment engagement, dialogue, and marketplace visibility.
Day 2: Marketplace, Dialogue, and Engagement
The second day will focus on showcasing enterprises, facilitating business linkages, and strengthening dialogue.
· Seafood Expo Marketplace: Women- and youth-led enterprises will showcase products, innovations, and services;
· Structured Business Matchmaking Sessions;
· Technical Discussions: Focus on trade, standards, and market access;
· Dedicated Dialogue Platforms:
- Women’s Dialogue: Capturing priorities and recommendations from women in the sector; and
- Youth Dialogue: Highlighting innovation, employment, and future opportunities.
These dialogue platforms will ensure that both women and youth voices directly inform outcomes and recommendations.
Day 1: Investment and Partnership Engagement
The first day will focus on high-level discussions and investment mobilization. It will feature:
• Opening Ceremony: Official opening with participation from government and partners;
• High-Level Plenary: Dialogue on investment opportunities, financing mechanisms, and the policy environment; and
• Partner-Led Sessions: Space for discussions on financing, policy, and business opportunities.
To ensure inclusivity and ownership, several sessions remain open for partners to contribute proposals and actively shape the program.
Context and rationale
Across Africa, women play a dominant role in fisheries and aquaculture value chains, particularly in post-harvest handling, processing, and trade. Notwithstanding their significant contributions, women working is fisheries and aquaculture sector face persistent challenges including limited access to finance, markets, technology, and decision-making platforms.
Concurrently, Africa’s fisheries and aquaculture sector presents substantial opportunities for economic growth, job creation, and food security. Whereas increasing attention is being given to the blue economy, a critical gap between investment opportunities and the women and youth who drive value chains on the ground.
The African Women’s Seafood Expo 2026 responds directly to this gap by creating an inclusive platform that:
· Connects women and youth entrepreneurs to investors and markets;
· Facilitates policy dialogue and institutional support;
· Showcases innovations and business opportunities; and
· Mobilizes resources for inclusive fisheries and aquaculture development.
