Africa’s EV revolution faces a waste reckoning

From the newsletter

Gotion High-Tech, a top Chinese battery maker, will open Africa’s largest gigafactory in Morocco by late 2026. That’s a major industrial leap. Yet without robust end-of-life recycling and take-back schemes, the continent risks trading tailpipe emissions for toxic e-waste disasters as spent battery cells overwhelm weak waste systems.

• EVs are a boon for clean transport and emissions reduction, but without end-of-life frameworks, surging battery retirements threaten to shift a problem rather than solve it.

• For a continent already overwhelmed by e-waste from phones to laptops, adding EV batteries risks undermining fragile systems as unprotected workers handle dangerous scraps.

More details

• Africa’s electric vehicle (EV) sector is entering a period of rapid growth, driven by the promise of clean mobility, lower fuel costs and climate-smart cities. Yet, while governments and entrepreneurs race to electrify the continent’s transport systems, a growing blind spot emerges: What happens to EVs and their batteries at the end of their lives?

• A 2023 UNEP report warns that the global shift to EVs, while crucial for decarbonisation, is incredibly material-intensive and the fallout will not be evenly distributed. The world’s largest economies are transitioning aggressively, but the battery supply chains enabling this shift often rely on extractive industries deep within lower-income countries. Africa plays a dual role here: Both a source of raw materials like cobalt and a destination for the world’s unwanted waste.

• As wealthier countries electrify their fleets, used EVs will increasingly be offloaded onto African markets. UNEP estimates that second-hand EV exports could surge to over 2 million vehicles by 2035, up from just 30,000–75,000 in 2022. This influx presents a double-edged sword: It boosts access to clean mobility but also shifts the full burden of end-of-life (EoL) management onto countries with limited capacity to recycle, repurpose or safely store these batteries.

• While cost-effective, used EVs have major disadvantages. The biggest is that their batteries are often significantly degraded. Batteries are the single most important component of an EV and poor battery health negatively affects user experience, while replacement costs remain high.

• Used EVs also carry hidden risks for buyers. An experienced EV technician told our sister publication Mobility Rising that many imported EVs from China have been in service for up to five years and frequently charged using fast DC chargers. This high-intensity charging degrades battery health to around 70–80%, thereby undermining efforts to promote circularity.

• Beyond battery health, used EVs depreciate rapidly due to the absence of modern technologies like AI-powered battery management systems, which enhance efficiency and extend lifespan. Even premium brands are not immune; Tesla’s average resale prices fell by 1.8% in April 2025 despite superior technology. In Africa, this depreciation risk is magnified by limited options for upgrades, repairs or warranty protections.

• On a continent dominated by second-hand petrol and diesel vehicles and without strong regulation, history is likely to repeat itself, this time with even greater consequences. Global North countries have few restrictions on used vehicle exports, while countries in the Global South often lack robust import or end-of-life (EoL) vehicle policies.

• A 2021 UNEP review of 146 countries found that 45% had weak or very weak regulations on second-hand vehicle imports, leading to a flood of older, less efficient vehicles that would fail fuel economy and emissions standards in the US or Europe.

• Compounding the issue is the shortage of skilled technicians and the absence of after-sales support across many African markets. This not only complicates routine EV maintenance and reduces vehicle longevity but also undermines the potential for safe battery reuse or repair—both key pillars of a circular system.

• Adding to these challenges, EVs present unique environmental and safety risks at end-of-life that differ markedly from internal combustion engine vehicles. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), which power EVs, degrade over time and, when damaged or aged, can catch fire, leak hazardous materials, or even explode.

• Despite the urgency of addressing these risks, the UNEP report highlights that Africa currently lacks formal infrastructure to safely dismantle and recycle EV batteries. While effective recycling technologies exist globally, they demand significant resources and expertise that are rarely available on the continent.

• This gap is exacerbated by the fact that most national policies treat EVs solely as a development opportunity, without addressing back-end waste. For example, Kenya’s Draft E-Mobility Policy and Nigeria’s Automotive Plan emphasise EV adoption incentives but largely overlook battery disposal and e-waste management.

• Without a recycling plan, the continent is left with just two perilous options, stockpiling, which increases the risk of fires that release toxic gases, or landfilling, which threatens groundwater contamination and the uncontrolled accumulation of electronic waste.

• Regulatory protection remains minimal worldwide, with the Basel Convention as the sole global treaty overseeing hazardous EV battery waste movement and environmental safeguards. However, enforcement is weak in many low and middle-income countries and awareness of the Convention’s relevance to EV waste is limited. 

• To address these gaps, exporting nations must tighten inspections on second-hand EVs, admitting only batteries that meet safety standards. However, inspections alone are not enough. Establishing regional recycling hubs will centralise collection and processing, deliver economies of scale, improve worker safety and spur green-industry growth—backed by finance, technology transfer and training.

• Meanwhile, vehicle design should embed circularity through extended producer responsibility, using standardised and labelled components to simplify disassembly and maximise material recovery. Moreover, strengthening the right to repair—by providing battery data, repair guides and technician training—will extend battery life and reduce disposal impacts.

Our take

• The circular economy must be part of any EV policy, not an afterthought. Without clear reuse, repair and recycling plans, green mobility will generate dirty outcomes for the continent.

• Used EVs are a double-edged sword. Battery wear, poor repair access and hidden defects can turn affordable imports into costly, unsafe burdens.

• Africa needs its own EV playbook prioritising safe imports, end-of-life systems and circular design to avoid inheriting unsustainable models from elsewhere.