Report tracks 15 projects in 10 countries worth over $4 billion; calls for moratorium on new deals
By Bunmi Yekini
Waste-to-energy incineration projects are spreading across Africa, and governments risk trapping their cities in decades-long contracts for technology that does not suit the continent’s waste, the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) said in a report.
The report, “Africa’s Waste Crisis is Attracting the Wrong Solution,” identified 15 incineration projects or proposals in 10 countries: Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Together they represent an estimated 520-550 megawatts of capacity and capital spending of more than $4 billion, according to GAIA’s 2026 tracking data.
Only one plant, Reppie in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is operating. Two are under construction, while the other 12 are seeking approval or financing, or are at the planning or proposal stage.
GAIA said governments are under pressure to act as cities struggle with rapid urbanisation. Only 55% of municipal solid waste on the continent is collected and 4% is recycled, the report said.
Landslides at the Koshe landfill in Addis Ababa, the Conakry landfill in Guinea and the Kiteezi landfill in Kampala have killed more than 116, 30 and 21 people respectively, it added.
Incinerators are often pitched as a way to dispose of waste and ease electricity shortages at the same time. GAIA argued the technology is poorly matched to African waste, which it said is mostly organic and moisture-heavy, with over 62.5% of solid waste in East Africa organic.
Such waste burns poorly and often needs supplementary fossil fuels, the report said, citing the U.N. Environment Programme as finding incineration particularly inappropriate for low- and middle-income countries.
The group also said incinerators cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take 20 to 30 years to pay off, requiring a constant waste supply that undermines recycling and composting. It said the plants emit more greenhouse gases than coal-fired plants and release pollutants including dioxins and heavy metals, leaving toxic ash.
GAIA said waste pickers near the Koshe dumpsite reported a 50% drop in earnings after the Reppie plant began operating, forcing some into street begging.
Harare deal
The report singled out the Pomona project in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, as an example of weak procurement. It said the city council granted a 30-year concession valued at $300 million to $350 million to Geogenix BV without competitive tender or an independent feasibility study.
Under the contract, the council pays Geogenix about $22,000 to $40,000 a day to dispose of waste at a site it owns and previously ran at no cost, the report said. Civil society groups have challenged the deal in court.
“This is corruption which has drunk an energy drink or taken Viagra,” Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume, who was suspended when the deal was signed in March 2022, told media, according to the report.
GAIA said Geogenix changed its name in 2020 after scandals in Albania, and that its beneficial owner was declared internationally wanted in 2023 on corruption charges.
Funding sources
African public money is the largest source of funding, followed by China and the Netherlands, GAIA said. Chinese companies are involved in five projects, while Dutch development finance bodies back projects in Lagos, Johannesburg and Freetown.
GAIA urged national governments to impose a moratorium on new incineration agreements until independent assessments are completed. It also called for public disclosure of financing and feedstock contracts, protection for waste pickers, and funding for composting, recycling and waste prevention.
It said climate finance institutions should not treat incineration as climate mitigation.
The report said such measures would help meet the African Union’s Agenda 2063 target of recycling at least 50% of municipal waste.