New $60 Million Electronics Programme Takes On E-Waste Across 16 Countries

Countries generated 62 million tonnes of electronic waste in 2022, with only 22.3 per cent formally collected and recycled in an environmentally sound manner.

The world's growing pile of discarded electronics contains valuable materials that could be recovered, but much of it never reaches proper recycling facilities. A new $60 million programme launched in Manila on 7 October 2026 will help 16 countries, including nine in Africa, rethink how electronics are produced, used, repaired and recycled.

The African Development Bank Group joined governments and development partners to launch the Global Electronics Management (GEM) Program, which brings public institutions, businesses and civil society together around a practical challenge: keeping electronics useful for longer and handling them safely when they reach the end of their working lives.

A Growing Waste Problem Needs More Than Recycling

Countries generated 62 million tonnes of electronic waste in 2022, with only 22.3 per cent formally collected and recycled in an environmentally sound manner. The annual volume of e-waste is projected to reach 82 million tonnes by 2030, increasing the pressure to change how products and materials move through the economy.

GEM covers the full electronics lifecycle, starting with production that uses resources more efficiently and products designed to last longer. Its work extends to repair, reuse, collection, material recovery and environmentally sound recycling, giving participating countries a framework that reaches beyond the disposal stage.

The programme will also support stronger policies and regulations, financing and technology adoption, helping create conditions in which circular electronics businesses and services can develop.

Funding comes from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) leads the programme in partnership with the African Development Bank Group, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Smail Alhilali, director of UNIDO's Circular Economy and Green Industry Division, said the shift requires countries, industry, finance, technology and knowledge to work together. He described the partnership as a way to encourage innovation and investment, with approaches that can expand across the electronics value chain and support a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient sector.

Nine African Countries Join the First Phase

The first phase covers Botswana, Djibouti, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia and South Africa. Cambodia, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Peru, the Philippines, Turkey and Viet Nam complete the group of 16 participating countries.

The African component is organised through two regional projects. The African Development Bank Group will implement the Horn of Africa project covering Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia. UNEP will implement the Southern Africa/SADC project involving Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa.

For the African Development Bank, the programme connects digital development with the need to manage the environmental consequences of expanding electronics use.

Henriette Christensen, the bank's senior ICT specialist, said the Horn of Africa initiative will strengthen policies, support market development and lay the groundwork for future investment. Those efforts are expected to help create jobs, recover valuable resources and support resilient digital economies.

Shared Knowledge Can Help Local Solutions Grow

GEM's approach depends on cooperation among groups that often handle different parts of the same problem. Governments, businesses, civil society organisations, financial institutions, technical and research organisations, standards bodies and recyclers will all have a role.

The GEM Knowledge Platform and global coordination mechanisms will allow participating countries to exchange experience, share practical solutions and expand approaches that prove successful. Lessons from one country could help others address similar challenges in collection, repair, recycling or regulation.

Claude Gascon, GEF's director of strategy and operations, said the environmental pressures associated with electronics require a coordinated response to hazardous chemicals, resource use and waste. He stressed that these issues are connected and need to be addressed together.

His message places national ownership alongside international cooperation: investments should help countries build systems that last, with successful solutions spreading across markets and regions and delivering environmental benefits beyond individual projects.