Kenya’s coastal financial system is dependent upon tourism as foreigners and locals go to the seashores to benefit from the heat climate and nature.

There’s something sentimental about seeing the waves break or crabs cover below the sand, one thing surreal strolling alongside the seashore at dawn or sundown. Swimming within the ocean is one other expertise, water is denser and floating simpler. Keep in mind the Archimedes Precept?

Our shoreline is open all year long, not like oceans or lakes within the far north or south that freeze in winter. Even golf programs are closed in winter in these chilly and much away locations. We have to journey to understand what now we have on this nation. We take our strategic location on the equator without any consideration.

Kenyans dream of proudly owning seashore plots, homes or retiring there. Some ultimately do however the overwhelming majority are born, reside and die in the identical place, away from the seashore. The myths of mermaids fireplace the dream additional.

This dream raises the worth of land alongside the coast. Let’s add shortage too as one other consider pricing; seashore land is proscribed. We have now 536 kilometres of shoreline; if we assume solely 50 ft seashore frontage for every plot, that interprets to 35,380 plots solely. If you happen to personal a seashore plot, please stroll with a swag.

However I feel now we have targeted an excessive amount of on seashores, but the coastal financial system would profit and develop extra if we diversified it away from the sand. Why a lot give attention to seashores, a tiny fraction of the oceans? The Indian Ocean – all the time puzzled why it’s not referred to as the African ocean – is Kenya‘s least exploited useful resource. 

We have now 200 nautical miles (370km) of unique financial zone from the shoreline. The 1982 United Nations Conference on the Legislation of the Sea says that states even have rights to the seabed of what’s referred to as the continental shelf as much as 350 nautical miles (650km) from the coastal baseline. My countrymen, simply breathe out and in.

Our 536km of shoreline by 370km offers you 198,320 sq. kilometres. If you happen to add the continental shelf, that offers us 348,400 sq km. That’s plenty of ‘land’ as a result of now we have entry to what’s beneath the water. The seashore is just a few metres broad.

Kenya’s complete space is 580,367 sq. km. To make your life simpler, the unique zone is 34 per cent of land space. If we add the continental shelf it goes to 60 per cent! My fellow countrymen, I’ve bored you with numbers however that’s a reality. Nonetheless fascinated about the seashore?

Under the ocean water lies plenty of wealth – fish and different sea life. Oil and gasoline, too. The ocean can also be a free freeway. For over 1,000 years, dhows have sailed throughout the ocean from India and Arabia, even China. But I nonetheless can’t take a ship or ferry from Mombasa to Malindi or Lamu! 

Too targeted on the seashore, now we have missed the larger image. Why are we not a number one nation in naval structure? We needs to be exporting ships just like the Japanese export automobiles. We needs to be exporting fish, not importing. With all this ocean frontage, why does Kenya endure meals scarcity when the waters by no means run dry? 

We needs to be competing with different nations to move items throughout the globe with our ships. We needs to be a cruise ship nation. Consider getting all East Africans into cruise ships and their cash. All of the world’s main nations and cities are by the coast. Why is Mombasa smaller than Nairobi?

Any time I go to our seashores and see the huge ocean, I see the financial potential now we have uncared for. I worry now we have been tethered to the seashore, its motels and sand when the actual alternatives lie within the huge ocean past. Even in academia, not a lot analysis focuses on the ocean or oceans.

We have now a State Division for Maritime and Delivery Affairs. That is not sufficient, we have to exploit our unique financial zone. Fishing, mineral exploration, water transport and water video games are low-lying fruits. If we’re flying to house, exploring the outer fringes of the photo voltaic system and discovering exoplanets, why are we afraid of leaving our shores?

And the place does all of the plastic on the seashores come from? Can seaweed be changed into fertiliser? Our lakes, dams and rivers are additionally not exploited to most potential.

When will we cease fearing water?