African circularity business raises $300 million in April

From the newsletter

Circular economy initiatives in Africa attracted $300 million in April, more than double the $115 million recorded in the first quarter of the year. West Africa dominated, accounting for three of the five deals, while southern and Central Africa secured one each. The funding comprised a mix of loans, grants and equity investment.

• The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) recorded the largest deal at $250 million, a loan from the World Bank to improve waste management in the capital, Kinshasa. 

• Outside the DRC transaction, deal sizes remained modest, with financing largely driven by development finance institutions, alongside small grants and venture capital.

More details

• The $250 million loan from the World Bank to DRC will fund the Kinshasa Urban Transformation and Jobs Programme, known as Kin la Belle, aimed at improving solid waste management services in the capital, one of Africa’s fastest-growing megacities. Home to more than 17 million people, Kinshasa generates an estimated 12,000 tonnes of waste daily, the vast majority of which is openly dumped or burnt. Rapid urbanisation has outpaced the development of basic services, with uncollected waste clogging drainage systems, increasing flood risks and contributing to public health challenges, particularly in low-income communities.

• The programme will focus on building core waste management infrastructure, including collection systems, transfer stations and integrated treatment facilities, while strengthening regulatory frameworks and enabling public-private partnerships. It is also expected to create jobs, particularly for youth and women, and support the development of local waste value chains, positioning circular economy approaches as part of the city’s broader urban transformation.

• In West Africa, Benin’s state-backed waste management company, Société de gestion des déchets et de la salubrité, has secured a $41.5 million sovereign loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, co-financed by the European Investment Bank, to modernise solid waste management in the Greater Nokoué region, home to around 2.8 million people. The programme aims to shift the country’s waste system away from landfill-heavy disposal towards a more integrated model centred on sorting, recycling and resource recovery. 

• The project will upgrade existing facilities and develop new sorting and composting infrastructure, alongside landfill gas capture and improved leachate management. It is also expected to strengthen collection capacity and support broader national targets to collect up to 90% of urban waste, create up to 10,000 jobs and reduce emissions by more than 75,000 tonnes annually.

• Still in West Africa, Ghana-based Food for All Africa secured a $150,000 grant from the Wharton School through the Lipman Family Prize. The unrestricted funding will support the expansion of its food recovery operations, including waste-to-value initiatives, enabling the organisation to scale its circular model by redistributing surplus food, reducing waste and improving access for underserved communities. 

• In neighbouring Nigeria, digital waste management platform Trashcoin secured $100,000 in venture capital from Jambaar Capital to scale its operations. The funding will support the expansion of recycling activities, strengthen technology and infrastructure and grow partnerships, enabling more communities to convert recyclable waste into financial value while improving environmental outcomes and advancing financial inclusion.

• Down south in South Africa, Norwegian development finance institution Norfund invested approximately $8.3 million in Nafasi Water Technologies, a water technology and utility services company, to support a sustainable water infrastructure platform focused on mining-affected catchment rehabilitation, municipal water reuse and advanced water reclamation technologies. 

Our take

• April’s total, more than double the amount raised in the first quarter, points to renewed momentum, though the concentration of capital in a single large deal highlights a market that remains fragmented and heavily reliant on concessional funding. 

• With national governments and state-backed entities dominating deal value, the sector remains anchored in public-led infrastructure, while startups operate at much smaller scales.