Funding watch: South Africa leads in circular investments

From the newsletter

South Africa secured the lion’s share of Africa’s circular economy funding in July and August receiving $139 million or 99.5%  of the continent’s total of $139.7 million. According to the Circular Rising funding tracker, the remaining investments of $681,000 were distributed between Kenya and Ivory Coast.

• The South African investment is the single largest deal on the continent for the two months, a loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to the City of Johannesburg.

• The loan is intended to support the expansion of critical urban infrastructure, including solid waste management.

More details

• The loan by AfDB to Johannesburg will promote improved landfill compliance, expanded recycling facilities and enhanced waste collection services in Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city. 

• The deal stands out because it is the first time the bank is lending directly to a subnational entity in Africa. Traditionally, development finance institutions channel funds through national governments due to concerns over local creditworthiness, governance, and repayment risk. Johannesburg’s direct loan from the AfDB challenges this pattern, showing that cities with functional financial systems can and should be trusted with large-scale infrastructure finance. 

• In Kenya, UK-listed Marula Mining is investing $581,000 in Nairobi-based e-waste firm WEEE Centre. The funding will establish a lithium-ion battery recycling and critical metals processing facility, targeting the recovery of lithium, cobalt, manganese and nickel from end-of-life batteries. Plans include a black mass extraction line and environmentally compliant, LIB-safe processing technologies.

• Meanwhile in Ivory Coast, Sikili, a leading provider of certified and affordable refurbished electronics for B2B and B2C markets, secured $100,000 in equity financing from Digital Africa, the seed fund of the French Development Bank (AFD).

• Although the investment amount was not disclosed, Nigeria’s startup Hinckley E-Waste Recycling secured backing from impact investors Goodwell Investments and Alitheia Capital in July to scale operations. The funding, channelled through Goodwell’s uMunthu II fund, will support the construction of the country’s first dedicated lithium-ion and lead-acid battery recycling plants in Ogun State, with a combined capacity to process up to 30,000 tonnes of electronic waste per year.

• These deals show a sharp rise in circular economy funding in July–August, $139.7 million compared to June’s $24.7 million, though the total was overwhelmingly shaped by a single AfDB loan to Johannesburg. While June’s funding consisted entirely of grants to national governments, July–August marked a shift toward loans and private equity, with a rare direct subnational loan and several private-sector e-waste investments.

• Geographically, leadership moved from North Africa (Egypt)  in June to Southern Africa (South Africa) in July–August). Meanwhile, sectoral priorities pivoted from pesticide phase-outs and recycling infrastructure to urban waste management and industrial battery recycling. 

Our take

• AfDB’s direct loan to Johannesburg signals confidence in the city’s governance and financial management, a challenge to other African cities to step up.

• The jump from $24.7 million in June to $139.6 million in July–August suggests that circular economy funding in Africa is gaining momentum.

• The Nigerian and Kenyan deals reflect a growing continental focus on battery recycling, highlighting how e-waste management is moving to the centre of Africa’s circular economy agenda.