Rising pharma waste opens new business opportunities

• Pharmaceutical spending across Africa is projected to grow by more than 30% over the next five years, driven by population growth and higher-cost medicines. Without systems to manage unused drugs, this growth is set to drive a corresponding increase in unmanaged pharmaceutical waste.

• While mature markets are scaling pharmaceutical waste management into a high-value sector, Africa’s systems remain underdeveloped, creating an opportunity to build a circular value chain.

• Our take: Africa Water Vision 2063 shows strong political intent, but its success hinges on translating that into functioning value chains… Read more (2 min)

Opinion: Africa needs a new incubator model for unsorted waste

• Mr Bogucki is the founder of EccoPlanet and PlanetLife, initiatives based in Zug, Switzerland focused on environmental innovation and investment. An entrepreneur and investor focused on deep technology and infrastructure, his career has spanned banking and venture investment across Europe and Africa. In 2020, he organised the “Mondays for the Planet” virtual strike.

• “The real challenge in many emerging markets is not recycling a single material stream but dealing with municipal waste as it actually arrives: mixed, dirty and wet,” he says, calling for a dedicated incubator to test technologies capable of processing raw waste “straight from the street”.

• Read the full opinion article here (2 min)

Project tracker: Four new circular projects launched

• West Africa dominates, with two projects, while the other two are spread across East and Southern Africa,

• The projects are backed by a mix of funders, including multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and Global Environment Facility, private investors, and government-led initiatives.

• Our take:  If the efforts succeed, they could mark a structural shift in how Africa’s circular economy develops…Read more (2 min)

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