African aquaculture has grown from the subsistence level targeted at providing fish to feed households in ponds to commercial ventures in cages, tanks, bioflocs and recirculation systems. While the early generation of African aquaculturist were trained outside the continent on production systems, species and work ethics, overtime, African aquaculture has come of age with a new a crop of young entrepreneurs who are upscaling their micro- and small ventures to the medium and commercial operations. There is the need for a new cohort of commercially oriented managers who understand the African terrain and can adapt technologies from the west and Asia to spur the African blue economy. This next breed should have at their finger tips the core aquaculture competencies: hatchery management, fish nutrition, production systems for the commonly culture species, post-harvest processing, marketing and financing of aquaculture ventures in addition to an in-depth understanding of the socio-cultural dynamics of their operational areas for human management and peaceful co-existence with local authority and communities. A steep knowledge in procurement, logistics and supply chains and sustainability is a core survival competency in the industry. To achieve this there is the need for a dynamic shift from the traditional training of aquaculturist to embrace online modules, industry immersion and problem-based solutions at the industry level to launch African aquaculture into the next phase.