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What is smelly, circular and can make you rich?

It’s not cheese. Waste management may not be sexy, but green business leaders are starting to make recycling pay at last

March 26, 2026

Welcome to Green Rising – For anyone who dares, visiting a dumpsite on the periphery of an African city can be memorable. For all the wrong reasons. 

The continent is short of many things, but waste is not one of them. Valuable resources, both organic and inorganic, are thrown away by the ton every day.

But a circular economy has been evolving in recent years, going far beyond waste-picking on dumpsites. Companies big & small are starting to make money from managing waste. 

The knock on the circular economy is… progress is easy when you come from a low base. Which is true. Rigorous analysis shows there is still a long way to go. But the organised commercial momentum is clear for the first time.

Africa’s recycling sector has long been shaped by the availability of waste rather than demand. That is beginning to change. In Nigeria, three companies (Indorama Ventures, Nigerian Breweries and Genesis Energy) have partnered to establish one of Africa’s largest recycled PET facilities, signalling a shift towards demand-led recycling.

  • Recycled content from fast-moving consumer goods companies and the demand for it is reshaping circular economics, shifting the sector from speculative models towards more predictable, market-driven investment.

  • As a result, recycling is likely to become more structured and controlled, with companies adopting a value chain approach to reduce volatility and improve supply reliability.

  • Our take: For a sector long dominated by startups struggling to scale, the Nigerian demand-led model offers a more viable blueprint for building sustainable recycling businesses… Read more (2 min)

Across the continent, a new approach to tackling waste is emerging as companies convert organic waste into valuable biological products. The latest example is in Accra, where a partnership between local and Danish companies will build a $2.9 million insect-based facility to process organic waste into animal feed protein and organic fertiliser.

  • Bioconversion is the process of using living organisms or biological systems to convert organic materials into useful products such as animal feed, fertiliser, bioenergy and industrial ingredients.

  • Organic waste accounts for at least 57% of Africa’s municipal solid waste, providing a substantial feedstock base for bioconversion pathways.

  • Our take: Beyond reducing pressure on landfills, bioconversion helps farmers reduce dependence on imports… Read more (2 min)

In the past three months, several innovations have emerged that could benefit Africa’s circular economy. Circular Rising highlights three that stand out for their impact. They include two road construction technologies fostering circular building and a battery recycling solution with the potential to help manage waste from the continent’s growing EV sector.

  • Two of the technologies were developed by German companies, while the third comes from an Indian developer.

  • Although created abroad, these innovations could enhance circularity in Africa if they are deployed on the continent.

  • Our take: These innovations will require local technical expertise in Africa to operate and maintain effectively…. Read more (2 min)

Number of the week

… is the increase in freight rates on some routes due to Iran's warship rerouting. Global vehicle manufacturers notified Egyptian distributors of price hikes of up to $2,700 per vehicle. Egypt, Africa's 2nd Chinese EV importer, faces acute vulnerability. Shipping firms pass costs to buyers. Undelivered pre-war orders compound price pressure amid rising demand. African vehicle buyers are now hit by global supply shocks.

Network corner

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👉 South Africa’s Anthem begins construction on a 475MW solar PV project, the largest single-phase solar site.

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EVENTS UPDATE 

📆 Sign Up for the International Agricultural Show in Morocco (April 20)

📆 Attend the Digital Transformation Conference in Kenya (April 27)

📆 Register for the Energy Conversion Systems Conference in Zimbabwe (May 19)

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