African Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

About

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face unique challenges, but they also hold valuable opportunities when it comes to protecting their natural environments and meeting their socio-economic development needs. Against this backdrop, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) project - “Supporting Sustainable Inclusive Blue Economy Transformation in African SIDS” (the African SIDS Project), has been launched to support six African island nations in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans: Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, Comoros, Mauritius, and Seychelles.

The project is funded by the GEF and led by the UNDP as the GEF Implementing Agency, in partnership with the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA) as the Executing Agency. The African Union Commission (AUC) serves as the focal custodian for project implementation, ensuring that the African SIDS Project aligns with continental blue economy initiatives and supports political legitimacy, resource mobilisation, regional integration, and climate resilience in SIDS.

The project seeks to help these countries move towards sustainable, inclusive, and climate-resilient blue economy development. In São Tomé and Príncipe, the project will place special focus on restoring degraded land and reducing ocean pollution caused by land-based activities.

While acknowledging the broad range of development needs faced by African SIDS, the project has been strategically designed to address the root causes that often block progress and to remove barriers to sustainable blue economy growth. It will do so by fostering South-South learning and triangular cooperation, allowing countries to share knowledge, experiences, and solutions.

The African SIDS Project will strengthen governance and policy environments in all participating countries, creating the foundation for national blue economy transformation. It will also pilot six national blue economy demonstration projects and one land degradation neutrality “ridge-to-reef” demonstration project, showcasing innovative practices and solutions that can be scaled up.

In addition, the project will promote information sharing and knowledge management, ensuring that data, lessons, and good practices are accessible to all stakeholders. This will not only enhance cooperation among African SIDS but also connect them with the wider global SIDS and ocean community.

The project contributes to the African Union’s Blue Economy Strategy, Agenda 2063, and global commitments, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 14: Life Below Water, and SDG 13: Climate Action.

Context

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a group of 38 UN Member States and 20 Non-UN Members or Associate Members of UN regional commissions.

SIDS are recognized globally as a special case for both environment and development. At the 1992 UN Conference in Rio de Janeiro, they were described as “low-lying coastal countries that share similar sustainable development challenges, including small populations, limited resources, high exposure to natural disasters, vulnerability to external shocks, and heavy dependence on international trade.”

Globally, SIDS have a combined population of about 65 million people (less than 1% of the world’s population). Despite their small size, they face such unique environmental, economic, and social vulnerabilities that they require special international attention. The six African SIDS together account for 5.06 million people (2021).

In terms of development, many SIDS are among the world’s poorest nations. Eight are classified as Least Developed Countries (LDCs), including three African SIDS: Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Meanwhile, Cabo Verde, Mauritius, and Seychelles are emerging economies, showing stronger growth and lower poverty levels.

African SIDS face interconnected geographic, economic, and environmental challenges that limit sustainable development. Their small size, isolation, and limited resources drive heavy dependence on international trade and climate-sensitive sectors such as tourism and fisheries, while exposure to sea-level rise, extreme weather, and ecosystem degradation continues to intensify. These vulnerabilities are compounded by governance and institutional capacity constraints, data gaps, and limited access to finance, with poverty, gender inequality, and coastal communities disproportionately affected.

Despite these challenges, African SIDS hold significant potential to strengthen resilience and inclusive growth through improved governance, sustainable resource management, Blue Economy initiatives, and strategic engagement with regional frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Objectives

The objective of the UNDP/GEF African SIDS Project is to achieve integrated, cross sectoral sustainable management of the Blue Economy in African SIDS through improved blue governance to build resilient communities and conserve coastal and marine ecosystem services.

Existing Barriers

Limited institutional development of African SIDS
1. Sectoral fragmentation and inadequate institutional arrangements
2. Lack of business models for the public and private sectors
3. Limited technical capacity for mainstreaming of climate change

Project Components

Component 1: Sustainable Blue Economy and Land Degradation Neutrality enabling conditions - improved governance frameworks

Under this component, the project will strengthen policies, legal frameworks, and institutions to create an enabling environment for blue economy transformation. The expected outputs are:

Regional and national instruments that support the blue economy, such as assessments, strategies, policies, and plans are developed and/or updated to guide sustainable development.
Regional and national coordination platforms are strengthened to improve collaboration and coherence in advancing blue economy initiatives.
Enabling frameworks are developed to support innovative, principles-based blue economy financing and the implementation of Land Degradation Neutrality targets, including mechanisms that encourage private sector investment.
Capacity is enhanced and awareness is increased across African SIDS on key issues critical to transforming national and regional blue economies.

Component 2: On-the-ground national demonstrations of sustainable investments, addressing the following:

Unsustainable ocean/coastal use and/or ‘new and additional’ sustainable Blue Economy opportunities and practices
Integrated land management and restoration of degraded production landscapes with positive impacts on Blue Economy assets

To read more on national demonstrations, click on a country’s link below:

Component 3: Knowledge management and upscaling

Under this component, platforms will be established to facilitate information sharing, promote South–South cooperation, and scale up lessons learned across Africa and globally.
Expected outputs are:

Enhanced communication and knowledge management systems that capture, package, and disseminate project results, innovative solutions, best practices, and lessons learned from the seven Sustainable Blue Economy and Sustainable Land Management demonstration projects at both national and regional levels.
Identification and dissemination of proven solutions and best practices from related initiatives, including other projects, Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and regional programmes, to support learning and replication at national and regional levels.
Strengthened data, information, and knowledge exchange networks within African SIDS, contributing to the development of integrated platforms that support Sustainable Blue Economy (BE) and Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) planning and implementation.

Project Significance and Outcomes

Project Significance

Economic importance: In African SIDS, tourism and fisheries account for a significant share of GDP (for example, tourism contributes 36% in Seychelles and 28% in Cabo Verde).
Environmental sustainability: Rising sea levels, land degradation, overfishing, and marine pollution threaten both livelihoods and ecosystems.
Global relevance: These island states are custodians of vast ocean territories critical for biodiversity, climate regulation, and sustainable development.

Project Expected Outcomes

Enabling policies, strategies, planning tools, and financing mechanisms will be strengthened to support sustainable Blue Economy development and the achievement of Land Degradation Neutrality across participating African SIDS.
Inclusive, sustainable Blue Economy and Sustainable Land Management best practices and livelihood diversification models developed, tested, and demonstrated, with strong social, economic, and environmental benefits and clear potential for scaling up across African SIDS.
Innovative solutions, lessons learned, and best practices for sustainable Blue Economy transformation and Sustainable Land Management are systematically documented, shared, and scaled across African SIDS and beyond.