Njoki Kangethe The Day Water Came: Growing Up with Thirst in Nairobi There are certain sounds that never leave you. For me, one of them is the scraping sound of yellow jerricans against concrete at night. Another is the sound of little feet running, and others shouting, ‘Maji imekuja!’, which is Swahili for, ‘The water […]
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Title: Beyond the Waste: Rethinking Africa’s Urban Future Njoki Kangethe Introduction: More Than a Waste Story Across this series, waste has appeared in many forms. It has been visible in overflowing dumpsites and clogged drainage systems, in the daily routines of informal workers, and in the emerging business models of startups attempting to turn discarded […]
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Title: From Waste to Wealth: The Startups Powering Africa’s Circular Economy Njoki Kangethe Introduction: Beyond Recycling If earlier efforts to address waste in Africa focused on collection and recycling, a more ambitious shift is now underway. Across the continent, a new generation of startups is beginning to rethink waste not as an endpoint, but as […]
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Trash to Cash: The Rise of Africa’s Waste Entrepreneurs Njoki Kangethe Introduction: Rethinking Waste For decades, waste in Africa has been framed almost exclusively as a crisis: a visible sign of rapid urbanization, weak infrastructure, and governance challenges. It has been discussed in terms of sanitation, public health, and environmental degradation, rarely in terms of […]
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Broken Systems: Why Waste Management Fails in African Cities Njoki Kangethe Introduction: A System Under Strain In many African cities, waste is overwhelming the systems designed to manage it. What begins as a missed collection day can quickly escalate into overflowing bins, clogged drainage systems, and expanding dumpsites that stretch beyond their intended limits. From […]
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The People Who Clean Our Cities: Inside Africa’s Informal Waste Economy Njoki Kangethe Introduction: The Invisible System Every day, before most cities fully wake up, work has already begun. In the early hours of the morning, men and women move through streets, dumpsites, and alleyways, collecting what others have thrown away. Plastic bottles, scrap metal, […]
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Part 1: Africa’s Waste Crisis: Problem or Opportunity? Njoki Kangethe A Growing Mountain Across Africa’s cities, a quiet crisis is building; not in headlines or high-level policy discussions, but in overflowing dumpsites, clogged drainage systems, and informal settlements where waste accumulates faster than it is collected. From Nairobi to Lagos and Accra, rapid urbanization is […]
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Njoki Kangethe LEDE: Across Africa, a new urban vision is taking shape. From Konza Technopolis in Kenya to Kigali Innovation City in Rwanda and emerging hubs in Lagos and Cape Town, tech cities have been positioned as symbols of transformation. They represent ambition, modernity, and the promise of a digitally connected future. Over the course […]
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Njoki Kangethe PART 5: ‘Building Dreams or Wasting Land? The Risks of African Tech Cities’ Introduction: Big Dreams, Big Risks Across the continent, tech cities have been presented as bold symbols of Africa’s future: smart, modern spaces designed to attract investment, create jobs, and position African economies within the global digital landscape. Governments have committed […]
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Njoki Kangethe PART 4: ‘TECH JOBS FOR WHOM? THE ELITES VS. ORDINARY AFRICANS’ The Promise of Opportunity Across Africa, tech cities are being built on the promise of jobs, innovation, and a new generation of entrepreneurs. From Konza Technopolis in Kenya to Kigali Innovation City in Rwanda and the tech districts growing around Lagos and […]
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