Trends to watch in Africa’s circular economy in 2026

From the newsletter

Stakeholders in Africa’s circular economy are hoping for an acceleration beyond a linear economic model. And while the scale is still small, momentum is expected to build in 2026 as governments take a greater interest in circularity. This analysis examines the developments likely to shape that trajectory in the year ahead.

• The emerging trends cut across funding flows, technological adoption, policy implementation and community participation.

• They include rising investment in startups, accelerated technological adoption, stronger policy implementation and enforcement, and deeper integration of informal sector actors.

More details

• Key among the trends shaping 2026 is the growing flow of investment into circular economy startups and small and medium-sized enterprises, which is gaining momentum even as large-scale public and development-backed projects continue to dominate overall funding volumes. While sovereign, municipal and development finance still accounts for the bulk of capital deployed, investment is extending beyond major infrastructure towards early-stage enterprises.

• According to Circular Rising’s 2025 funding tracker, 42 circular economy deals were recorded during the year, with disclosed values totalling approximately $10.45 billion. While the majority of the funding flowed to large public and development-led initiatives, startups and SMEs accounted for 17 of these deals, attracting around $48.6 million in disclosed funding. Although modest in absolute value, this concentration of early-stage activity signals growing investor recognition that many of Africa’s collection and recycling challenges are not suited to large infrastructure alone. In 2026, this trend is expected to deepen, supported by greater use of blended finance, venture studios and philanthropic capital to de-risk early-stage investments and help circular enterprises bridge the gap between pilot activity and commercial scale.

• Alongside shifting investment patterns, technology is expected to play a key role in Africa’s circular economy in 2026. In 2025, several governments and cities adopted new technologies to improve waste management efficiency, traceability and recovery outcomes. Nigeria adopted Japanese plastic polyethylene manufacturing technology to strengthen domestic plastic recycling capacity, while Kenya’s flagship smart city, Konza Technopolis, became home to Africa’s first automated pneumatic waste collection system, signalling growing openness to technology-led urban waste solutions. 

• Beyond these public-sector initiatives, a growing number of circular economy startups are embedding digital tools at the core of their business models. Companies such as Mr Green Africa in Kenya and Scrapays in Nigeria are using digital platforms to improve waste collection, connect informal collectors to buyers and enhance transparency for regulators and investors, illustrating how technology is shaping circular value chains. In 2026, adoption is expected to accelerate further as regulatory enforcement tightens, demand for verifiable data increases and operators seek lower-cost, more efficient ways to manage waste systems at scale.

• As investment and technology scale up, the continent’s policy landscape is expected to shift decisively from agenda setting to enforcement and operational delivery, marking a new phase in regulatory maturity. After several years focused primarily on strategy development and policy adoption, 2025 signalled a turning point as authorities resumed or tightened existing waste, product and producer responsibility regulations. In Kenya, mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulations took effect in May 2025, introducing binding compliance, reporting and packaging labelling obligations for producers. Ethiopia and Nigeria began enforcing bans on single-use plastics, while Egypt started implementing compliance requirements under its EPR framework for plastic packaging. This transition from policy announcement to day-to-day regulation reflects growing recognition that credibility increasingly depends on execution rather than ambition alone.

• As enforcement pressures increase, 2026 is expected to see stronger emphasis on regional coordination as a core feature of circular economy governance. In 2025, the African Union advanced its ten-year Continental Circular Economy Action Plan, providing a shared policy reference point for member states, while at subregional level the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) launched a Regional Plastic Pollution Prevention Strategy and Implementation Plan. These initiatives reflect growing recognition that fragmented national approaches are ill-suited to managing shared ecosystems, cross-border material flows and integrated markets. As implementation pressures increase, 2026 is likely to bring further regionally driven frameworks and greater alignment between national policies, standards and enforcement mechanisms.

• These regulatory and market shifts are also bringing labour and inclusion questions to the fore, with 2026 likely to see stronger recognition and integration of informal waste workers within Africa’s circular economy systems. Long described as the backbone of the continent’s waste management sector, informal waste pickers have historically operated at the margins of planning and regulation despite their central role in collection, sorting and recycling. As circular economy reforms scale up and EPR schemes expand, this longstanding exclusion is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.

• Momentum towards integration gathered pace in recent years as organisation and advocacy among waste pickers strengthened, including the formation of associations such as the Nairobi Recyclable Waste Association and the Recyclers Association of Nigeria. Governments and development partners also began engaging informal workers more directly. In 2025, the Danish government conducted a study on conditions faced by informal waste pickers at Kenya’s Dandora dumpsite. In 2026, these efforts are expected to move from recognition towards implementation, with increased focus on registration, capacity building and stronger linkages to formal value chains, particularly within EPR schemes and municipal waste systems. How effectively this transition is managed will shape both the equity and effectiveness of Africa’s circular economy in the year ahead. 

Our take

• In 2026, Africa’s circular economy will be defined less by new ambition and more by the effective execution of strategies already in place.

• The main challenge in 2026 will be uneven execution, as limited enforcement capacity, financing constraints and institutional gaps risk slowing progress and concentrating gains in a small number of better-resourced countries and cities.

• If current momentum holds, Africa’s circular transition could move from ambition to execution, unlocking scalable local solutions and more investable, resilient markets.