• Circular Rising
  • Posts
  • The continent is getting closer to its waste-to-energy ambitions

The continent is getting closer to its waste-to-energy ambitions

March 04, 2026

Source: Government of Ethiopia

From the newsletter

Africa’s waste-to-energy (WtE) momentum is growing. Nigeria’s Benue State has launched a 90 MW plant, Uganda a 45 MW facility and Kampala a plant converting organic waste into biogas and fertiliser. These projects signal government commitment to decongest landfills and address power shortages, though long-term viability remains uncertain.

  • Across several African markets, waste-to-energy projects have revealed a gap between promise and performance, with some commissioned facilities continuing to face performance challenges.

  • As governments pursue WtE ambitions, closing the structural and execution gaps flagged by industry experts will be critical to avoiding the setbacks that limited earlier projects.

More details

  • The Nigerian and Ugandan WtE projects join a growing list of similar initiatives across the continent. In Ethiopia, the Reppie Waste-to-Energy Plant was designed to process about 1,400 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily and generate up to 25 MW of electricity. In West Africa, Ivory Coast’s Divo Biomass Project aims to convert cocoa waste into power through a 76 MW facility, while Sierra Leone is developing a 30 MW plant in Freetown expected to generate 236.5 GWh annually. In Southern Africa, the City of Johannesburg’s Alternative Waste Treatment Technology (AWTT) project targets 28 MW of power generation alongside large-scale material recovery.

  • While these projects demonstrate that large-scale waste-to-energy is technically feasible in Africa, delivery has proven complex. As a result, several projects have struggled to operate at projected capacity. For instance, Africa’s flagship WtE facility in Addis Ababa, the Reppie Waste-to-Energy Plant, has faced operational constraints since commissioning. Reports indicate the plant has at times processed significantly less than its 1,400-tonne daily design capacity and generated roughly 90 GWh annually, compared with an initial projection of around 185 GWh. Analysts attribute the gap to operational interruptions, waste composition challenges and technical setbacks.

  • These challenges are not unique to Addis Ababa. Industry analysis shows that in many developing economies, municipal waste tends to contain higher moisture levels and lower energy content than in developed markets, reducing combustion efficiency and electricity output. This creates technology–feedstock mismatches, as many large-scale incineration systems deployed in African cities were originally designed for higher-calorific waste streams dominated by plastics and dry combustibles. In cities where waste is predominantly organic and poorly segregated, sustaining consistent performance can prove both technically and financially challenging.

  • WtE projects are among the most capital-intensive forms of waste infrastructure and frequently rely on blended finance and public–private partnerships (PPP) to reach financial close, further complicating project execution. Ethiopia’s Reppie Waste-to-Energy Plant was financed through a mix of public and private funding, including support from the China Exim Bank and the African Development Bank. Côte d’Ivoire’s Divo Biomass Project is structured as a PPP backed by Climate Fund Managers, while Sierra Leone’s proposed WtE facility has also secured early-stage blended finance support. In South Africa, Johannesburg’s AWTT project is being implemented as a PPP with funding support from Invest International.

  • Reliance on external and blended financing can create additional long-term risks. While such projects are expected to become financially self-sustaining over time, operational underperformance, as seen in Addis Ababa where output has fallen below projections, can strain revenue models and undermine financial viability. 

Our take

  • Whether Africa can deliver on its waste-to-energy ambitions will depend on aligning technology choices, waste realities and financing structures with long-term operational capacity. 

  • If executed well, waste-to-energy initiatives could help African cities tackle two crises at once, mounting landfills and chronic power shortages.