By Abiodun Salako
The world generates more than 2 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste each year, a figure projected to reach 3.4 billion tonnes by 2050 by the World Bank. While high-income countries produce the most waste per capita, it is low and middle-income countries that bear the greatest burden of mismanagement. Over 90% of waste in low-income contexts is either uncollected or dumped openly, contributing to pollution, public health risks, and rising climate costs.
Globally, waste management already costs an estimated USD 252 billion annually, a figure that climbs to USD 361 billion when environmental and health impacts are factored in. These pressures are more visible than in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where rapid urbanisation is intensifying long-standing infrastructure gaps, energy deficits, and environmental stress. According to the World Bank’s What a Waste 2.0 report, waste generation in SSA is expected to triple by 2050.
Sub-Saharan Africa is grappling with an energy crisis, with 600 million people without access to electricity. However, Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plants can become one of the central ways to unlocking the continent’s sustainable future, creating energy solutions that could alter livelihoods. Research suggests that by 2060, SSA countries could generate between 20 and 58 million MWh of electricity annually from waste alone. This gives more credence to the utility of WtE plants in the region. The main hurdle is not technical feasibility per se but financing: many governments and municipalities lack the internal capacity to fund projects, making the gap between theoretical potential and bankable, operational reality the critical barrier to WtE deployment across the continent.
The climate case: From methane emissions to baseload power
Rather than a single-issue solution, Waste-to-Energy functions as a cross-sector intervention spanning waste systems, energy security, and public health outcomes. Open dumpsites and poorly managed landfills are major contributors to climate change. As organic waste decomposes anaerobically (without oxygen), it releases methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria and Algeria are top emitters of methane from municipal solid waste in SSA. according to the African Development Bank.
WtE technologies, by processing waste in controlled environments, effectively capture or prevent these emissions, directly contributing to climate change mitigation. WtE also contributes to climate adaptation by addressing one of the root causes of urban flooding. In many cities, including Lagos and Accra, uncollected waste blocks drainage systems, worsening flood risks during heavy rains. Improved waste reduction and collection through WtE help build more resilient urban environments and protect livelihoods. Furthermore, these technologies provide stable baseload power, an indispensable need for industrialising urban centres. This reliable electricity fuels economic growth and improves social well-being, powering basic infrastructure, creating profound social and livelihood impacts.
Waste-to-energy projects in SSA
There are a few WtE projects that show that the sector in Sub-Saharan Africa has moved beyond a few pilot projects into a strategic regional priority. Operational since 2018, the Reppie WtE plant in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is Sub-Saharan Africa’s first large-scale facility converting municipal solid waste into electricity. The plant was intended to process 1,400 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) per day. In 2024, the Lagos State Government formalised a partnership with a Dutch firm, Harvest Waste Consortium, to construct a high-efficiency WtE plant on Epe landfill. The project will process 2,250 tonnes of waste daily, supply electricity to 40,000 homes, generating between 60 and 75 megawatts of baseload electricity annually. Likewise Ghana, in 2022, commissioned a waste-to-energy power plant at Gyankobaa in the Atwima Nwabiagya Municipality of the Ashanti Region. The 400-kilowatt facility, known as the ‘Hybrid-PV-Biogas-Pyrolysis-Plant’, has the capacity to convert 12 tons of waste into bio-fertiliser and energy daily. The facility is being funded by the German government through the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Financing waste-to-energy plants in SSA: The bankability problem
Despite the clear potential of WtE to solve both waste and energy crises, funding for these initiatives remain complex to secure, especially in Sub-Saharan African countries. WtE projects remain stuck at the earliest stages of the infrastructure pipeline, unable to attract financing or move toward implementation. The financial landscape, however, is evolving. The African Development Bank (AfDB), through Sustainable Fund For Africa (SEFA) has been instrumental in financing energy-from-waste projects that promote a Just Transition – integrating, rather than excluding, the informal waste economy to ensure social sustainability. The WtE project, in Kenya’s Kabila, aims to convert three forms of biomass; municipal solid waste (MSW), crop residues and livestock waste to biogas/fuel ethanol and generate electricity.
In addition, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), last year, expanded into SSA, targeting markets like Benin, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire, with energy infrastructure investments. Their entry serves as a cue for private investors, particularly through the “Green Cities” standards which prioritise climate-resilient infrastructure.
The challenge still remains the bankability for such projects. Many WtE concepts in SSA fail to reach financial close due to a lack of waste characterisation data, uncertain feedstock supply, and weak revenue modelling. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) and other International Financial Institutions (IFIs) require investment-ready certainty before committing capital.
This is where E Co’s value proposition is most impactful. As Mouna Lyoubi, one of our Senior consultants, puts it: “The capital for a green urban transition exists, but it demands investment-ready certainty. We cannot expect cities to navigate complex Waste-to-Energy transitions alone. Providing robust support for project development and rigorous feasibility studies is the only way to bridge the gap between municipal ambition and bankable reality, unlocking the necessary financial opportunities to build sustainable, resilient urban futures. At E Co., we provide the expertise and guidance needed to navigate donors’ financial, environmental, and social requirements.”
A prime example of this is our work in Zambia, where we developed the Lusaka Waste-to-Energy (WtE) Project to align with the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) goals. We converted these risks into a bankable WtE investment by using a phased financing approach from feasibility to implementation. The project is anchored on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, with risks mitigated by long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), blended finance, and partial guarantees from international partners. This structure enhances financial viability, attracts private investment, and supports Zambia’s low-carbon development goals (NDC and development strategies).
Supporting Mouna, Isaacnezer Njuguna, a Consultant at E Co. reflects on the project, ‘’Our Zambia experience highlights a broader reality across Sub-Saharan Africa, that climate finance access is hindered by a lack of investment-ready projects, not capital. Success requires strong project preparation, rigorous studies, and clear risk allocation. Waste-to-Energy (WtE) is uniquely positioned to address waste management, energy security, and climate mitigation simultaneously, offering strong impact and diversified revenue. Properly structured and de-risked, WtE projects attract blended finance and private investors, accelerating sustainable urban infrastructure.’’
Conclusion
Sub-Saharan African cities recognise that waste is a valuable energy resource, a growing sector with the potential to generate over 50 million MWh, which is enough to power 14 million households. But, most Waste-to-Energy projects never make it off the drawing board because they lack the market certainty that financiers demand. E Co.’s work in Zambia proves that by connecting high-level climate goals with detailed project data through waste characterisation and phased revenue modelling, cities can unlock climate finance from institutions such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
