Hey, Hannatu here 👋
Most industries spend years trying to convince people to buy more of what they produce.
African aquaculture has the opposite problem.
The demand is already there, but the supply is lagging.
Across much of the continent, fish is one of the cheapest and most accessible sources of animal protein.
In Senegal, Ghana, Gambia, and Sierra Leone, fish accounts for more than half of all animal protein consumed.
In Nigeria, millions of households eat fish as an everyday staple.
But demand outstrips supply almost everywhere you look.
Nigeria, for example, produces 1.1 to 1.2 million metric tonnes of fish per year but needs between 3.3 and 3.6 million metric tonnes annually. That deficit is filled largely through imports.
Stockfish and stockfish head are imported from Norway in Nigerian markets. Image source: SCR
Kenya faces the same problem. Annual demand is around 510,000 tonnes; domestic production hovers between 170,000 and 220,000 tonnes.
Tanzania, Zambia, and South Africa all report persistent supply gaps despite having significant water resources.
The market exists. But the industry is still trying to catch up.
The appetite is there. The fish aren't.
According to the 2025 OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook, which provides an assessment of the ten-year prospects for agricultural commodities, Africa will record the fastest growth in fish consumption compared to anywhere else in the world over the next decade.
Between 2025 and 2034, total fish consumption on the continent is expected to grow by 24%.
Several forces are driving that at once: rapid population growth, rising incomes, urbanisation, and growing recognition of fish as an affordable, high-quality protein source.
Across the continent though, consumption remains low by global standards.
Africans consume an average of 8-10 kilograms of fish per person annually, compared to a global average of 21 kilograms.
In Kenya, that figure drops to between 2.5 and 4.5 kilograms per person. South Africa sits at roughly 7 kilograms. Tanzania averages between 7 and 8.5 kilograms.
This chart shows the percentage of meat type preferences in Tanzania, where most families prefer Fish to beef and chicken meat. Image credit: Science Direct
Even in countries like Senegal and Ghana where fish is deeply embedded in local diets, production is struggling to keep pace.
According to the FAO, aquatic foods account for roughly 19% of animal protein availability across Africa. For millions of lower-income households, fish is often the most affordable protein on the table.
Globally, aquaculture has already become the engine of seafood production.
A 2026 FAO State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report shows global production reached a record 235 million tonnes in 2024, with aquaculture supplying more than half of all aquatic animal products consumed worldwide.
Africa accounts for about 3% of that, producing roughly 3.6 million tonnes out of a global total of 117.6 million tonnes.
The demand is real, the gap is measurable, and the money is starting to notice. The question is whether it's been going to the right places.
We've been throwing money into the wrong pond
For years, aquaculture investment in Africa meant building more fish farms. More ponds, more fish.
That thinking is changing.
Most of the funding that has gone into aquaculture lately has been focused on infrastructure that makes commercial aquaculture possible in the first place: hatcheries producing fingerlings, feed manufacturing, processing facilities, distribution networks, and technologies connecting farmers to reliable inputs.
Investors are treating aquaculture as an ecosystem rather than a collection of individual farms.
Victory Group is one of the best examples.
Image Source: Victory Farms
The East African producer operates tilapia farms on Kenya's Lake Victoria and Rwanda's Lake Kivu, expecting to produce around 30,000 tonnes of fish in 2026.
Through more than 100 sales outlets across East Africa, the company distributes fish into markets where reliable local supply remains limited.
AgDevCo, in April, confirmed a $15 million investment into Victory Farms to finance the company’s next phase of expansion, including new farms in Kenya and Rwanda, while also helping to improve distribution.
"Our aim is to build a leading aquaculture business that supplies nutritious protein at scale while creating opportunities for the traders and communities that depend on our value chain," founder and CEO of Victory Farms Joseph Rehmann said following the investment.
The emphasis on distribution matters as much as the investment in production. Building more ponds does little if fish can't consistently reach markets while maintaining quality and affordability.
Private investors figured this out. Now governments are reaching the same conclusion.
When governments start fishing in the same waters
In Senegal, authorities recently announced plans to invest $65 million in aquaculture development between 2026 and 2030.
The goal is ambitious: increase national production from roughly 3,000 tonnes in 2025 to 20,000 tonnes by 2030.
Artisanal seine-net fishing near Kafountine on Senegal’s coast. Some fishers want the government to investigate who ultimately owns each of the fishing boats registered in Senegal. Image source: Dialogue
The strategy extends well beyond constructing new fish farms. The programme prioritises domestic fish-feed production and hatchery development, targeting two of the industry's biggest constraints.
Feed remains one of the highest operating costs for fish farmers, while limited access to quality fingerlings restricts expansion even where demand exists and capital is available.
Africa's aquaculture challenge is less about convincing farmers to raise fish, and more about building the supply chains that make large-scale production commercially viable.
And where governments go, specialist funds tend to follow.
Hook, line, and the entire supply chain
Aqua-Spark recently launched a dedicated African aquaculture fund with an explicit plan to build foundational infrastructure across sub-Saharan Africa.
Lake Harvest Group, one of the fund's cornerstone investments, operates an integrated tilapia business in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Uganda, combining production, processing, and distribution within a single company.
Kenya-based Aquarech addresses a different gap, connecting fish farmers with quality feed, fingerlings, and technical support through a digital platform.
In Mozambique, Chicoa Fish Farm expands commercial production capacity while strengthening regional supply.
Each investment solves a different problem. Together they suggest that investors increasingly believe Africa's aquaculture opportunity depends not on one breakthrough company but on an entire value chain maturing simultaneously.
Commercial farming rarely scales because of better farms alone. It scales when finance, logistics, inputs, processing, and markets develop together. Aquaculture is entering that phase. The only question left is how quickly the rest of the industry catches up.
The fish are ready. Are we?
Even with recent investments, Africa's fish deficit won't disappear overnight.
Nigeria will continue importing millions of tonnes annually. Kenya's production will remain well below domestic demand for years. Population growth means consumption will keep rising even as production expands.
But the conversation is changing.
For years, aquaculture competed for investment attention alongside poultry, livestock, and crops. Increasingly, investors see something different.
A sector where demand is already established, nutrition outcomes are significant, and the commercial opportunity is measurable in millions of tonnes of unmet consumption rather than uncertain future markets.
Most industries spend years searching for customers. African aquaculture is searching for enough production.
The winners won't simply be the companies producing more fish. They'll be the businesses and governments that build the hatcheries, feed mills, logistics networks, and distribution systems capable of turning an obvious market into a functioning industry.
Product-market fit was never the challenge. Building enough supply to match it is.
Next week, we will discuss what needs to be done, beyond investment, to ensure that this fish actually goes to local consumers.
If you’re in the aquaculture space, we’d love to hear from you. How are you feeling about all the recent funding into the sector?
Cheers,
