In 2018, Ethiopia quietly made history. While the world debated renewable energy targets, the East African nation built Africa’s first waste-to-energy plant, turning the capital’s 50-year-old landfill into a clean power source.
What began as a local environmental fix has since become a continental blueprint for sustainable growth, job creation, and energy innovation. The plant, known as Reppie, burns 1,400 tons of waste daily to generate electricity for about 25 per cent of Addis Ababa’s households. It has transformed one of Africa’s most polluted spaces into a living case study of circular economy in action.
Now, from Lagos to Kigali, governments and investors are taking notes.
Image by Africa News
Africa’s Urban Waste Problem and Opportunity
Every day, African cities generate over 125 million tons of solid waste, according to the UN. Most of it ends up in open dumps, polluting air, soil, and waterways. Yet that waste represents an untapped resource, a potential energy stream in a continent still facing acute electricity shortages.
Waste-to-energy technology bridges two urgent needs:
- Cleaner cities that can manage urban growth sustainably.
- More power for industries and homes in countries battling frequent blackouts.
This is not just an environmental solution; it’s an economic model.
A 5-megawatt waste-to-energy plant, consuming 400 tons of waste per day, costs roughly $40 million to build and takes around 18 months to complete. Double the scale to 10 MW and you’re looking at $80 million and 800 tons of waste converted daily. In infrastructure terms, this is a relatively low-cost, high-impact investment, particularly when you factor in its social returns.
From Landfills to Livelihoods
Ethiopia’s Reppie plant did more than clean up a dump. It:
- Created hundreds of jobs across waste collection, sorting, and energy operations.
- Cut methane emissions and improved urban air quality.
- Reduced disease risks linked to unmanaged waste.
- Generated stable electricity for homes and small businesses.
This holistic impact on environment, economy, and energy is what makes the model so powerful for Africa. Countries like Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria are already piloting similar projects, each with unique financing and community engagement models.
In Lagos, plans are underway to convert a portion of the Olusosun landfill, one of Africa’s largest, into a waste-to-energy facility. In Rwanda, feasibility studies are exploring small-scale plants to power industrial parks. And in South Africa, private-public partnerships are driving early-stage designs in cities like Durban and Cape Town.
Why This Means for Africa’s Entrepreneurs and Investors
The waste-to-energy sector is quietly opening a new frontier for entrepreneurship and green investment. Here’s how:
- Tech start-ups can build solutions around waste collection logistics, recycling, and supply-chain digitization.
- Local manufacturers can supply components such as turbines, filters, and construction materials — keeping more of the value chain within Africa.
- Investors gain access to a proven, scalable clean-energy asset class with measurable impact returns.
- Governments can create green jobs while meeting climate goals and improving public health.
The beauty of this model is its adaptability. A single city can start small, with a 1 to 5 MW plant, and expand as waste collection systems mature.
Policy: The Missing Spark
For this movement to accelerate, policy must catch up with innovation. Governments need to:
- Establish clear waste management frameworks that prioritize energy recovery.
- Offer tax incentives or carbon credits for investors in circular economy projects.
- Integrate waste-to-energy into national energy planning, alongside solar and hydropower.
Done right, Africa could turn its waste crisis into an engine of green industrialization.
The Bigger Picture: A Continental Circular Economy
The success of Ethiopia’s plant is more than a story of engineering; it’s a mindset shift. It shows that African nations don’t have to wait for imported solutions; they can lead in building self-sustaining economies that balance growth with environmental stewardship.
Every ton of waste converted into electricity is also a ton of opportunity for jobs, for local industry, for innovation.
If Ethiopia could flatten a half-century-old landfill and power its capital from the ashes, what could 54 African countries achieve with the same determination?
The waste-to-energy revolution is not about burning garbage. It’s about transforming how Africa thinks about value, infrastructure, and sustainability.
In a world racing toward net-zero, Africa’s story doesn’t have to be one of catching up. It can be one of leading differently, using the very challenges that once held it back as fuel for a cleaner, smarter future.
