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Profile: Oceana Group – Unlocking the potential of South Africa’s oceans economy
by Media Xpose
There is enormous potential for South Africa’s fishing sector to drive sustained, inclusive economic growth and increasing evidence that this is being realised.
According to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) the fisheries sector currently contributes about R8 billion a year to GDP and employs some 28 000 people.
For the Oceana Group, Africa’s largest fishing company and one of the most empowered companies listed on the JSE, unlocking the sector’s potential informs every aspect of its business. So much so that its deceptively simple but determined brand positioning is: “Positively impacting lives.”
Group CEO, Imraan Soomra, explains that the approach stems from the belief that with the right to fish in national waters comes the responsibility to deliver tangible, inclusive social and economic benefits.
“South Africa’s fishing industry is ideally placed to do this, because the fishing value chain and associated sectors continue to offer huge opportunities for growth, dignified employment and enterprise development,” he says.
Actively advancing BBBEE
This is not to suggest that there hasn’t already been considerable progress. During apartheid black South Africans held only 1% of fishing rights compared to over 75% today.
This transformation is reflected in Oceana’s own voyage. Since 2004 it has been actively advancing Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment and has performed well in terms of measurable transformation criteria.
Black ownership is currently over 80% and the representation of historically disadvantaged individuals on the Board of Directors has increased from 55% in 2010 to 90%.
The pioneering Oceana Empowerment Trust (OET), vested in 2020, represents over 2 400 historically disadvantaged South Africans. The Trust holds 13.3 million shares in the Oceana Group, just over 10% of total issued shares. This makes the OET the largest black-owned fishing entity in South Africa, with a market value of just under R1 billion. The average net yield per employee is some R400 000.
Of the current workforce, over 90% are historically disadvantaged individuals, 41% of whom are female.
To date, the Group has created over 35 000 employment opportunities and has invested R60.9 million in skills development initiatives designed to accelerate workforce transformation.
The Oceana Maritime Academy in Hout Bay harbour is testament to this investment in people. The R40 million facility is the first academy of its kind in South Africa that focuses specifically on the training needs of people in the fishing industry.
The skills and training programmes are designed to provide opportunities for employees as well as address skills shortages in the small-scale fisheries sector and to assist new entrants to the industry.
The company has committed a further R35 million a year for developing sector-specific skills and training. As the Academy grows, the intention is to offer more specialist training courses and forge international alliances to provide global-best-practice exchange opportunities.
Potential of oceans economy delivers tangible benefits to communities
As Soomra points out, the benefits of investing in the sector aren’t limited to the fishing value chain. The number of BEE Level 1 and BEE Level 2 suppliers to Oceana increased by 600% and 397% respectively between 2010 and 2020.
The Group has spent R19.6 billion with South African suppliers at an average of about R1.8 billion a year since 2011. Some R5.6 billion of this was directed to black-owned businesses and R2.2 billion to female black-owned businesses. Over the same period the number of black-owned businesses and black female-owned suppliers have increased by 589% and 1 589% respectively.
Perhaps though, it is in the communities where Oceana operates where the potential of the oceans economy to deliver tangible, inclusive economic benefits is most obviously demonstrated.
“These are communities that have depended on the sea for sustenance and income for generations and that must be acknowledged and respected,” says Soomra.
About 64% of Oceana’s total workforce are in St Helena Bay and Velddrif. The area has a total household income of R787 million of which Oceana provides R412 million, over 52%.
Importantly these are sustainable, year-round jobs rather than the seasonal work associated with fishing. Oceana is the world’s largest buyer of frozen pilchards, purchasing as much as 120 000 tons a year. These are used to supplement local stock, ensuring the Group’s Lucky Star cannery is able to stay open year-round and contributing to the country’s food security. Some four million South Africans consume Lucky Star pilchards every day.
The company’s desalination plants at St Helena Bay and Laaiplek generate 88% of the fresh water required for its factories, limiting its impact on these communities. These are part of an ambitious environmental sustainability project which will include implementing large-scale renewable-energy projects, particularly along the West Coast.
“We’ve managed to build some momentum over the past 17 years,” says Soomra. “That’s important because there’s so much more potential in the oceans economy than just the fishing industry – aqua culture, eco-tourism, renewable energy and marine biotechnology to name a few. Hopefully the transformation, skills development and economic opportunities the sector has provided so far will ensure many more lives are positively impacted in future.” ■
Oceana Group
T 021 410 1453 W www.oceana.co.za
