Opening Remarks by Vincent Biruta, Minister of Environment

Circular Economy in Africa | World Circular Economy Forum

Good afternoon!

It is a pleasure to be with you today for the World Circular Economy Forum, and this session focused on Africa. I would like to extend my thanks to the Forum organisers and the Finnish government for their commitment to sustainable development and green growth.

The forum, and this session in particular, are an opportunity to share both Africa’s experience in fostering the circular economy and the many opportunities that exist for investment in green growth. I am grateful for the chance to share some of Rwanda’s experience and look forward to our discussions today.

Rwanda’s commitment to the circular economy and green growth comes from a belief in fostering socio-economic transformation while also conserving and protecting our natural environment.

While the term ‘circular economy’ might be relatively new, the practice of utilising resources to their full potential, creating long lasting products, fixing and sharing goods out of necessity and recycling has been common practice across the continent for generations. In fact, Africa is already a circular economy leader.

In Rwanda, as is true across much of the continent, the principles of the circular economy have been applied in a range of sectors - even without coordinated assistance or facilitation.

Some innovative examples of the circular economy in Rwanda include recycling of wastewater by car garages, the treatment and reuse of water by food and beverage companies, the making of fashion accessories from discarded materials and the adoption of the sharing economy for wedding and other ceremonies attire.

More formal and larger scale examples include a state-of-the-art e-waste dismantling and recycling facility and the introduction of a ride hailing app by Volkswagen to reduce personal ownership of polluting vehicles and encourage the sharing economy in Kigali.

To establish the e-waste facility, our national Rwanda Green Fund invested close to 1.5 million dollars to build the facility and develop the relevant legal framework for it to operate. The facility can process more than 10,000 tonnes per year and will employ 1,000 people in collection and processing across the country.

The facility also refurbishes computers which are given to schools while plastic and metal elements are separated and sent for recycling. It is now being run through a public-private partnership, and will soon process lead acid batteries and other solar equipment.

To advance these efforts, we have established the Rwanda Cleaner Production and Climate Innovation Centre. The centre will ensure the products and services provided by both the public and private sectors embrace best practices in terms of climate resilience and the circular economy through technology and innovation.

The centre was set up following the success of a resource efficiency programme that worked with businesses to reduce their environmental impact. The programme led to cost savings of more than three million dollars and a decrease of considerable amount of carbon emissions especially in tea factories.

At policy level, we recently revised Rwanda’s Environment and Climate Change Policy to incorporate the circular economy and organised the first ever Africa Green Growth Forum in November last year. Indeed, Government of Rwanda is developing green procurement guidelines. These initiatives are sending a clear signal that green growth and circular economy are the new priority for Rwanda, and Africa as well. 

As the continent grows and develops, we need to avoid the take, make, waste approach and realise the opportunities that lie in the circular economy. The recently established African Circular Economy Alliance is a response to these opportunities.

Launched at COP23 in Bonn, the Alliance is co-chaired by Nigeria, South Africa, UN Environment and Rwanda with support from the World Economic Forum and the Global Environment Facility. A number of other countries have also expressed a desire to join including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Niger and Senegal. We look forward to expanding the Alliance and welcoming new members.

The Alliance aims to fast-track the uptake of the circular economy across the continent through the sharing of experience and the facilitation of new partnerships between public and private institutions by highlighting investment opportunities.

That is also what I hope we will achieve during today’s sessions. I look forward to our discussions and finding new ways to work together to advance the circular economy in Africa.

Thank you for your kind attention.