Nauru

Nauru is a Pacific island nation that consists of a single coral atoll of 21 km2 and is a high-income country with a GDP of 124 million USD in 2018. The country of Nauru has an agricultural sector that contributes 6.1% to the economy. No commercial scale agriculture exists on Nauru due to a dearth of arable land, but small-scale farming of coconut does occur. Conversely, Nauru’s exclusive economic zone of 320, 000 km2 allows for inshore fisheries that provide a range of socio-economic benefits to Nauruan’s as well as an offshore tuna fishery exclusively utilized by foreign vessels that are granted access under a fisheries licencing scheme. Nauru also has an industrial sector that accounts for 33% of GDP and is mainly based around phosphate mining; however, dwindling phosphate stocks available for extraction has led the Government of Nauru to establish trust funds to support future development projects and the diversification of the economy. The largest component of Nauru’s economy is the service sector, which is primarily driven by government services but also supports a small tourism sector.

Nauru has a small startup community that partially has access to supports for small business, including a startup accelerator competition sponsored by the Government of Australia and the Government of the United Kingdom. One area of potential collaboration with startups in Nauru is in the aquaculture industry, as only small-scale aquaculture is currently practiced. As well, collaborating to develop and implement renewable energy solutions are available, as the Government of Nauru is seeking to have 50% of its energy needs satisfied by renewables by the end of 2020.