By Daniel Nduka Okonkwo
Nigeria generates an estimated 32 million tonnes of solid waste annually. Most of it goes nowhere useful. It piles up in drainages, clogs waterways, and fills makeshift dumpsites on the outskirts of cities such as Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and many other parts of the country. It is a crisis hiding in plain sight, yet it also represents one of the most underutilised economic opportunities on the continent.
African innovators now stand at the threshold of an unprecedented opportunity. The Milken-Motsepe Prize in Circular Economy is more than a competition; it is a catalyst for transformation. With $2 million in total prizes, including a $1 million Grand Prize, the initiative is designed to empower companies across Africa, especially Nigerian businesses, to scale solutions that convert waste into wealth while formalising informal economies.
For Nigerian enterprises working in plastics recycling, food systems, textiles, electronics, and sustainable manufacturing, the visibility provided by such a global platform could unlock partnerships, attract investors, and accelerate growth. The prize funding is not merely financial support. It is a strategic investment capable of expanding operations, reskilling workers, and positioning companies as leaders in regenerative and resource-efficient value chains.
Just as Cameroon’s BleagLee secured the $1 million Grand Prize in AI and Manufacturing, Nigerian companies now have the opportunity to showcase their ingenuity, expand their impact, and help redefine Africa’s production systems for a more sustainable future.
In many African cities, waste is still treated as a crisis to be managed rather than an economic asset to be transformed. Mountains of discarded plastics, tyres, electronics, and organic waste continue to overwhelm urban centres from Lagos to Nairobi, while unemployment and underemployment remain among the continent’s most urgent social challenges.
Yet across Africa, a new generation of companies is quietly proving that waste can simultaneously become wealth, jobs, industrial growth, and environmental recovery.
That reality is precisely what the Milken Institute and the Motsepe Foundation hope to accelerate through the Milken-Motsepe Prize in Circular Economy, a global competition offering $2 million in total prizes, including a $1 million Grand Prize, to companies building regenerative and resource-efficient production systems across Africa.
The initiative seeks technology-driven businesses capable of replacing the traditional “take, make, waste” industrial model with circular systems that keep materials in use longer, reduce environmental damage, and generate measurable economic and social impact.
However, this is not a competition for ideas alone. It is a search for companies already operating at scale or demonstrating strong readiness for rapid expansion.
To qualify, businesses must have operated continuously for more than two years, generated at least $500,000 in revenue, secured investment capital, maintained institutional or public-sector partnerships, and demonstrated the capacity to absorb and deploy funding above $1 million effectively.
In practical terms, the competition is looking for African companies that have already survived the difficult startup phase and are now positioned to grow into continental or global players.
Nigeria, despite its severe waste-management challenges, may possess one of Africa’s most commercially promising circular-economy ecosystems.
Across Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, and other rapidly expanding cities, local entrepreneurs are already transforming waste into manufacturing inputs, export products, renewable energy, and digital recycling markets.
The real question is whether enough of them are prepared to compete aggressively for international visibility, investment, and strategic partnerships.
One strong example is FREEE Recycle, which has developed an integrated recycling and manufacturing model that converts end-of-life tyres into rubber crumbs used in sandals, paving materials, and flooring products.
Its zero-waste production process has reportedly created hundreds of jobs annually while expanding into international markets, including the United Kingdom and the United States. The company represents exactly the type of scalable industrial innovation the competition appears designed to reward.
Another emerging player is EcoBarter, which operates a recycling exchange system across Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Ibadan. Instead of charging residents for waste collection, the company pays households and businesses for recyclable materials such as plastics, aluminium, and metals.
In 2025, EcoBarter expanded into organic waste conversion through a biogas initiative in Abuja, further strengthening its position within Nigeria’s growing clean-energy and circular-economy sectors.
Meanwhile, Wecyclers has evolved into one of Nigeria’s most internationally recognised circular-economy brands. Through partnerships with major corporations and development institutions, the company has built a franchise-based recycling collection system capable of generating employment while significantly increasing plastic recovery rates.
Its partnerships with multinational consumer brands and public waste-management agencies demonstrate the kind of institutional credibility global investors increasingly seek.
Another Nigerian startup attracting attention is Scrapays, which combines recycling logistics with digital technology and financial incentives to help households and businesses monetise recyclable waste more efficiently.
Together, these companies illustrate a broader reality often overlooked in international conversations about Africa’s green economy. The continent is no longer merely discussing sustainability. In many places, it is already building commercially viable systems around it.
Nigeria’s opportunity becomes even clearer when viewed against the recent success of BleagLee, which won the $1 million Grand Prize in the 2026 Milken-Motsepe Prize in AI and Manufacturing.
BleagLee gained international recognition for using artificial intelligence to identify and process plastic, agricultural, and electronic waste into high-value recycled materials, including engineered polymers and 3D-printing inputs.
Its victory carried an important message for African innovators: global recognition is no longer reserved exclusively for Silicon Valley or European industrial giants.
An African company solving African problems can compete and win on the world stage.
Too often, strong local businesses fail to pursue international competitions, accelerator programmes, or strategic investment opportunities because they underestimate the global relevance of their work. Yet many Nigerian circular-economy companies already satisfy several of the criteria international funders increasingly prioritise: measurable social impact, climate relevance, workforce development, technological integration, and scalable business models.
The significance of the Milken-Motsepe competition extends beyond the cash award itself.
Semifinalists gain exposure to international investors, policymakers, development institutions, and global manufacturing leaders through events linked to the Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit.
For companies seeking expansion capital, export partnerships, or continental visibility, that platform could prove even more valuable than the prize money itself.
The competition also places strong emphasis on workforce transformation.
Participating companies are expected not only to reduce waste and improve material efficiency, but also to demonstrate how they reskill workers, formalise informal economic activities, and create safer and more specialised employment opportunities within waste-management and recycling ecosystems.
That requirement is especially relevant in Nigeria, where millions of people already participate informally in collection, sorting, transportation, and resale activities connected to recyclable materials.
If properly structured, Africa’s circular economy could become not only an environmental strategy but also one of the continent’s largest engines for job creation.
According to projections from the Nigeria Climate Innovation Centre, the circular economy could contribute billions of dollars to Nigeria’s GDP by 2030 if supported by investment, policy coordination, and industrial scaling.
Africa’s waste crisis continues to deepen alongside urbanisation, population growth, and industrial expansion. Yet within that crisis lies one of the continent’s most underappreciated economic opportunities.
The future of African manufacturing may not depend solely on extracting new raw materials. It may increasingly depend on how effectively African businesses recover, reuse, redesign, and regenerate the materials already circulating within their economies. That is the larger significance of the Milken-Motsepe initiative. It is not merely rewarding recycling companies. It is attempting to identify the industrial architects of Africa’s next economic model.
For Nigerian entrepreneurs already operating in plastics recycling, food systems, sustainable manufacturing, construction materials, textile recovery, renewable energy, or waste-to-value technology, the message is clear:
The global stage is open.
The capital exists.
The networks are available.
But only companies willing to apply, compete, and demonstrate readiness for scale will benefit.
Africa’s circular-economy race has already begun. Nigeria has the talent, the waste streams, the market size, and the entrepreneurial energy to lead it.
What remains to be seen is whether enough Nigerian companies are prepared to seize the opportunity before the application deadline closes.
Daniel Nduka Okonkwo is a Nigerian investigative journalist, publisher of Profiles International Human Rights Advocate, and a policy analyst whose work focuses on governance, institutional accountability, and political power. He is also a human rights activist and advocate, with a strong commitment to justice and transparency.
His reporting and analysis have been featured in Sahara Reporters, African Defence Forum, Daily Intel Newspapers, Opinion Nigeria, African Angle, NewsBreak (local.newsbreak.com), Vanguard Newspaper, Daily Trust Newspapers, and other international media platforms.
He writes from Nigeria and can be reached at dan.okonkwo.73@gmail.com.
