Africa Circular Talk by ACEA

Africa’s renewable-energy transition will be shaped by what happens throughout the life of its equipment: how reliably it operates, whether it can be repaired, and what value can be recovered when it reaches the end of its use.

In this episode of Africa Circular Talk, Bon and Dame explore how circular approaches could help protect energy investments while developing African skills, enterprises and industries. From servicing solar systems to refurbishing batteries and building regional recovery networks, they examine the opportunities and the practical conditions needed to make them viable: affordable services, trusted standards, financing and cooperation across borders.

The conversation introduces Turning the Lights On: Unlocking Circular Value Chains for Africa’s Renewable Energy Transition, a virtual policy conference convened by ACEA and CEPREC on 21 October 2026, from 09:00 to 12:00 GMT. Join policymakers, businesses, researchers and financiers to explore pathways for implementation.

Register for the conference

Could Africa’s next industrial opportunity be sitting in our drawers, offices and discarded appliances? From computers to refrigerators, old electronics hold materials that could supply new production, grow businesses and create skilled jobs. What would it take for African economies to capture that opportunity?

In this episode of Africa Circular Talk, we explore how an initiative funded by the African Development Bank Group through its Circular Economy Facility (ACEF) in Rwanda could help shape a future where discarded electronics become resources for industries across the continent.

What if Africa could turn the resources it already has into more industry, more jobs and more investment?

This episode of Africa Circular Talk explores how national circular economy roadmaps can help African countries create and retain more value at home.

Through the Africa Circular Economy Facility, and in collaboration with the African Circular Economy Alliance, the African Development Bank supports eight countries to move from ambition to action, under the second phase of the National Circular Economy Roadmaps programme.

Tune in to explore how NCER2 is turning circular ambition into policies, investment and value created and retained across Africa.

Africa carries one of the heaviest debt loads in the world. It also sits on some of the most promising circular economy activity on the continent. Enterprises in Rwanda, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, and beyond that are reshaping how value moves through African supply chains.

Could there be a connection between the two?

This episode of Africa Circular Talk explores what that link might look like in practice, through the lens of Debt-for-Circular-Economy Swaps.

The conversation opens up a question that doesn't get asked often enough: what happens when circular economy starts being taken as a financing and industrial strategy for a green growth in Africa?

🎙️ Solutions Climat | Émission Spéciale Recyclage & Économie Circulaire

Au micro de Ghislain Coulibaly de la Radio de la Paix (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire), le Dr Al Hamndou Dorsouma, Chef de Division Changement Climatique et Croissance Verte à la Banque Africaine de Développement, plonge au cœur d'une question pressante : comment l'Afrique transforme-t-elle ses déchets (plastiques, électroniques, organiques) en moteurs de croissance et d'innovation ?

Entre défis structurels et solutions concrètes, le Dr Dorsouma dévoile comment la BAD mobilise ses outils de financement à travers le Fonds Africain pour l'Économie Circulaire (ACEF) pour catalyser une transition durable à l'échelle du continent, et partage ses éclairages sur les conditions indispensables pour accélérer ce basculement vers une Afrique plus propre, plus résiliente et plus circulaire.

What happens when circularity becomes strategy? From Chad to Ethiopia, countries are using Circular Economy Roadmaps to shift from fragmented efforts to coherent, future-facing policies, with support from the African Development Bank's Circular Economy Facility and the African Circular Economy Alliance. This episode explores how these roadmaps are redefining growth—anchored in resilience, rooted in local realities, and designed for long-term sovereignty. 🎙 A timely conversation on how Africa is structuring its own circular future.

Every year, Africa imports over $700 billion worth of goods. But what if that number was a signal to do things differently? In this episode, we explore how circular entrepreneurs across the continent are building local solutions to global challenges. And at the center of this shift? The AfriCircular Innovators Programme - funded by the African Development Bank's Circular Economy Facility -funded in collaboration with the African Circular Economy Alliance - helping bold ideas grow into investment-ready businesses. 💡 What’s really holding circular startups back? 🌱 How can we move from pilot projects to real scale? 🔧 And why circular economy could be a game-changer for Africa’s future? Whether you're an entrepreneur, policymaker, or just curious about what’s next for Africa—this conversation brings fresh insight, grounded solutions, and real talk.

Redesigning the future in Africa, one repurposed material at a time From agriculture to construction, African innovators turn waste into practical, locally inspired solutions. This episode explores how repurposed materials are driving circular change across the continent.

This insightful episode is inspired by a blog post from the African Development Bank's Africa Circular Economy Facility on unlocking the potential of the circular economy for African MSMEs.

Listen and find out how Africa can leverage its 125 million MSMEs to lead the continent's shift towards a circular economy.