Africa's Blue Economy shows great potential for tackling the enormity of climate change while improving livelihoods for coastal communities. However, achieving this potential requires improvement in the scientific understanding of marine and coastal conditions in the context of climate change, paired with innovations in technology, business, finance, and, importantly, the institutional structures that will develop and implement mitigation and adaptation initiatives. This brief sets out how the World Bank, in addition to developing novel financial instruments to unlock the investments needed to grow the Blue Economy, contributes to innovation by supporting research into local marine and coastal conditions, supporting the localization of global technologies where appropriate, and encouraging partnerships across stakeholder groupings around a common purpose of developing the continent's Blue Economy through innovative solutions.