The Potential of Circular Economy Business Models in East Africa
Based on the lessons learned from running the first Waste-to-Value Accelerator in East Africa, Intellecap has published a report outlining the opportunities and challenges of the circular economy.
Waste management is a key socioeconomic and environmental challenge affecting most countries in East Africa. The traditional methods for recycling and disposal of waste are unable to deal with the growing amount of waste being produced in these countries.
We therefore need to be much more circular and efficient in our use of resources and materials and much smarter in managing waste, ultimately reaping value from waste. Otherwise, we cannot sustainably support the exponential population growth over the next decades – expected to especially occur in Africa.
It’s been said that ‘waste has always been someone’s problem’. We’re making it our problem. Based on our aspiration to support enterprises and build the waste sector in East Africa, we partnered with Intellecap to launch the Waste to Value Challenge in December 2019. The Challenge was launched across four countries – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda – and received over 400 applications.
The objective of the accelerator was to support and scale early-stage businesses tackling waste management and recycling in the region. In connection with the accelerator, Intellecap developed a pipeline of 249 early-stage companies that operate within the sector. Out of this effort, now comes a publication, which outlines the challenges and opportunities in the circular economy.