Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau seek Stronger Waste Management Systems

Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau have called for stronger laws, institutions and funding mechanisms to tackle the growing waste management crisis in Africa and support the transition to a circular economy.

The call was made at the Final Regional Closing Workshop on the “Environmentally Sounder and Safer Waste Management Frameworks in Africa” project, held in Abuja.

The event brought together policymakers, regulators, development partners and representatives of the participating countries to examine the project’s findings and recommendations.

The workshop was hosted by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, NESREA, following pilot programmes launched in Abuja in November 2025 under a United Nations Development Account-funded initiative led by the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, in collaboration with other UN agencies.

The project focused on Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau, with the objective of improving national and regional systems for environmentally sound and safer waste management.

Speaking at the opening, NESREA Director-General, Professor Innocent Barikor, described the initiative as an important step towards addressing Africa’s persistent waste management problems.

Barikor said the workshop would enable stakeholders to validate the project’s findings and legislative recommendations while developing practical strategies for implementation, financing and long-term sustainability.

He noted that “waste management remained one of Africa’s major environmental and developmental challenges, with inadequate infrastructure, insufficient funding and limited public awareness continuing to undermine effective waste management in many countries.”

According to him, the recommendations from the initiative would strengthen legal and institutional structures while also improving the recognition and protection of informal waste workers.

“Together we shall produce a set of concrete post-project implementation and sustainability roadmaps that will inform policy and legislative reforms, strengthen institutional capacity, ensure gender inclusion, protect the rights of children and improve overall waste management outcomes,” he said.

Barikor said the project was consistent with Nigeria’s efforts to promote a circular economy and efficient use of resources, noting that effective waste management could support economic development, social wellbeing and environmental protection.

He urged participants to contribute actively to the discussions and produce recommendations capable of turning the project’s findings into lasting action.

Representing the Sierra Leonean government, Deputy Minister of Environment, Mrs Yeama-Mimi Sobba-Stephens, described the workshop as an opportunity to assess the work carried out under the project and establish how its gains could be sustained.

She thanked UNEP for its technical support and commended the Nigerian government and NESREA for hosting the regional event.

The deputy minister said the project was especially relevant to Sierra Leone, where urbanisation, population growth, changing patterns of consumption and inadequate infrastructure continue to place pressure on waste management services in Freetown and other municipalities.