Averda’s workforce stagnates amid retention challenges

From the newsletter

Dubai-based waste management company Averda is facing a slowdown in workforce growth in Africa, with hiring dropping from 9% last year to just 3% in the past six months. An 8% attrition rate is compounding the challenge, particularly in HR (11%) and business development (11%) signaling a shift from expansion to workforce retention.

• Averda specializes in waste collection, recycling, and sustainable disposal solutions across emerging markets, providing integrated waste management services to municipalities, industries, and commercial clients

• The company’s hiring trajectory reflects this shift. The workforce growth peaked in November 2024, slowed in December, and rebounded to 689 by February 2025. Since then, growth has stagnated, indicating a shift toward retention-focused strategies over aggressive hiring.

More details

• While the average industry experience of Averda’s employees is 10 years, their average tenure is only 4.4 years. This suggests that while the company attracts seasoned professionals, it struggles to retain them long-term.

• The company’s workforce distribution highlights operational priorities. Its largest workforce concentrations are in Congo Brazzaville with 167 employees making up 24% of the workforce, Casablanca with 107 employees representing 16%  and Johannesburg with 106 employees comprising 15%. Growth has been strongest in the Congo Brazzaville at 18% and Casablanca at 18%, indicating rising waste management demand for new contracts.

• Averda’s workforce growth in Congo Brazzaville reflects its strong presence in the country through deep-rooted municipal contracts and infrastructure projects. Since launching operations in Brazzaville in August 2015, the company has expanded to cover all nine districts of the city, providing daily waste collection, public space maintenance and landfill management. 

• A key milestone was the 2016 contract to design, build and operate the Lifoula landfill—a 40-hectare facility with eight storage cells and a 15-year lifespan, marking the country’s first municipal solid waste landfill. These significant projects have fueled Averda’s growth, positioning Congo Brazzaville as its largest workforce hub in Africa.

• Conversely, a 5% workforce reduction in Gabon, an 8% decline in Govan Mbeki, South Africa and a 13% workforce drop in Rabat suggest operational downsizing, possibly due to expiring contracts or municipal restructuring. The lack of new hires in Rabat over the past year further supports this trend. However, the decline in Rabat, despite Casablanca’s growth, raises questions about the company’s broader strategy in Morocco.

• A key factor in Averda's workforce reduction in Gabon, reflecting reduced work, could be strained government relations over financial disputes. The company was contracted in 2014 for Libreville’s waste management under a renewable deal until 2021. However, a $37.8 million debt dispute in 2019 impacted operations and with its contract expired amid rising competition, Averda’s presence in Gabon has declined.

• The largest job titles reflect Averda's operational focus, with truck drivers comprising the biggest category at 34 employees, accounting for 5% of the workforce, followed by general drivers with 30 employees, making up 4%, operations supervisors with 22 employees, representing 3%  and team leads with 20 employees, also at 3%. This aligns with the nature of waste collection, where most of the work involves collection and transportation, making operations the company’s largest department with 275 employees, or 40% of the workforce.

• In addition to these operational roles, Averda is also seeing rapid growth in departments like quality assurance (50%), healthcare services (40%) and arts and design (25%). These departments point to a shift toward evolving priorities in regulatory compliance, specialised medical waste management and sustainability efforts.

• The workforce expertise aligns with industry needs, with the most prevalent skills including environment, health and safety (47 employees, 7%), waste management (47 employees, 7%) and environmental management systems (45 employees, 7%). The fastest-growing skills—budgeting (33%), recruiting (21%) and management systems (18%)—indicate a growing focus on financial planning, HR efficiency  and the development of structured operational frameworks.

Our take

• Averda’s shift from rapid workforce expansion to strategic consolidation signals a critical juncture. To stay competitive in Africa's waste management sector, the company must prioritise workforce retention, particularly in HR, business development and IT. Without addressing this, the company risks weakening its operational foundation.

• While the company’s  efforts to diversify into quality assurance and healthcare waste management are forward-thinking, high attrition in key departments like business development and IT could undermine these initiatives. The company’s future success relies on finding a balance between growth and talent retention.

• As Africa’s waste management sector continues to evolve, Averda faces a dilemma: scale or optimise? The company’s ability to balance expansion efforts with workforce stability will be crucial. Its next steps will determine whether it successfully navigates this transition or faces stagnation.