ALUE/African Circular Economy

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

A joint project between Finland, the African Development Bank and Sitra aims to support the mainstreaming of circular economy solutions in African countries. The objective of the impact level is to help convert production and consumption on the continent into a circular economy. At the output level, the aim is to create favorable conditions for the circular economy by strengthening the capacity of public and private sector actors and encouraging the launch and replication of new circular economy business models. As a basis for this, the project will produce circular economy policies, institutional capacity building programs and pilot circular economy projects. The circular economy is based on a holistic approach to sustainability, from energy and material efficiency to the reuse / elimination of waste throughout the product life cycle. In a circular economy, the global economy is in transition, shifting from products to services such as distribution services and platforms, maintenance, repair (including proactive industrial maintenance), and the benefits of digitalisation for streamlining global production chains. Promoting a circular economy supports climate policy, and in particular the achievement of long-term emission reduction targets. Finland is a pioneer in a carbon-neutral circular economy. In 2016, Finland was the first in the world to publish its national circular economy roadmap. The Roadmap has been widely implemented by both the public and private sectors, from grassroots upwards, and was updated in 2019. Finland's experience has made it possible to engage in content-rich policy dialogue, promote institutional cooperation and increase the impact of development cooperation on new technologies and activities. As a sign of Finland's pioneering role, Sitra hosts a global circular economy forum that brings together industry players every year. It is proposed that the project quality board will support seconding an Finnish expert to the African Development Bank worth EUR 0.6 million for the period 2020-2022.