Africa Circular Economy Facility (ACEF) [NDF C129]

Objective

Circular economy is a prerequisite for a sustainable economy, including climate change mitigation and adaptation. There is a vast potential to create jobs and improve productivity in Africa through circular economy practices, and therefore improve not just the environmentally sustainable development but also the economic competitiveness of African countries.

The overall objective of the Africa Circular Economy Facility (ACEF) is to mainstream circular economy as an inclusive green growth strategy to help African nations fulfil their development objectives, while at the same time meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement, SDGs and Africa’s Agenda 2063. The program is a pioneering intervention to promote enabling public and private environments that will drive the adoption of an inclusive circular economy model in Africa. ACEF is aligned with AfDB’s Ten-Year Strategy to promote inclusive green growth. The EUR 4 million capitalisation of the ACEF can be seen as “seed capital” to foster pan-African engagement, to encourage government buy-in, and to demonstrate the proof-of-concept for new circular economy business opportunities.

Expected outcomes

ACEF will provide technical assistance and capacity-building support for governments, regulators and the private sector in selected African countries. In addition, ACEF will provide pilot funding for promising early-stage circular economy business models. The targeted outcomes in the ACEF theory of change are as follows:

• Circular economy successfully mainstreamed as an inclusive green growth strategy in selected African countries

• Enabling regulatory environments created for the economy-wide adoption of circularity

• Capacity enhanced in private and public sectors in the field of circular economy

• Pool of circular economy champions created (such as start-ups and universities) that demonstrate new circular business models, encourage partnerships and knowledge-sharing

• Enhanced climate action

Financing

The target size of the ACEF is EUR 4 million. NDF will provide EUR 2 million joint grant co-financing, and the Government of Finland will provide the other EUR 2 million.

Contact

Anu Hassinen, Program Manager (anu.hassinen@ndf.int)