By Obiabin Onukwugha
Kenya has called for greater attention to the growing problem of electronic waste as African nations accelerate their transition to clean energy, stating that the shift could create new e-waste challenge.
Kenya’s Principal Secretary, State Department for Environment and Climate Change, Engr Festus Ng’eno, made the call at the CEPREC Kenya International Summit 2026 held at Strathmore University under the theme, “Sustainable Futures Reimagined: Sustaining Africa’s Clean Energy System through Circular Innovation, Inclusion and Impact”, on Monday.
The summit, which brought together researchers, innovators, policymakers, industry players and development partners, focused on how Africa can build a cleaner and more sustainable energy future through circular innovation.
Ng’eno said the move towards renewable energy should not end with the installation of solar panels, electric vehicles and other clean-energy technologies.
According to him, governments and industry must also plan for what happens to these technologies when they reach the end of their useful lives. “Africa’s transition to clean energy presents enormous opportunities, but it also calls for us to think beyond the installation and deployment of renewable energy systems.
“We must ask how we will manage solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, power electronics and other equipment at the end of their useful life,” Ngeno said.
He said circular innovation could help African countries turn the growing waste challenge into an economic opportunity, noting that Kenya generated an estimated 56,000 tonnes of electrical and electronic waste in 2025, with the volume increasing every year.
The PS said rather than allowing discarded equipment to become an environmental burden, valuable materials could be recovered while new businesses and jobs are created through repair, reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing and recycling.
“This challenge also presents an opportunity to recover valuable materials, create new industries and generate employment,” he said.
He revealed that the government was strengthening policies and regulations to promote sustainable waste management.
Ng’eno also pointed to the Sustainable Waste Management Act, Climate Change Act and Extended Producer Responsibility Regulations as part of efforts to change the way Kenya approaches waste.
He said the country was moving away from seeing waste simply as something to be thrown away towards treating it as a resource with economic value and clear responsibility for its management, and urged members of the public, businesses, institutions and communities to play their part in supporting the clean-energy transition.
“As we move forward, we must all embrace our role as ambassadors of clean energy, championing sustainable energy solutions, raising awareness, and encouraging responsible energy choices within our communities, institutions and workplaces,” he said.
Kenya State Department for Environment and Climate change in n a statement said the discussions at the summit highlight a growing concern across Africa, adding that that the continent’s clean-energy transition must be environmentally sustainable throughout the entire life cycle of the technologies it adopts, from production and use to repair, reuse and eventual recycling.
