Edem d’Almeida

Togo / France

This Franco-Togolese entrepreneur, one of the pioneers of recycling and the circular economy in sub-Saharan Africa, is determined to turn environmental constraints into genuine drivers of development.

A former Suez executive, Edem d’Almeida founded Africa Global Recycling (AGR) in 2013, the first waste collection and recovery company in Togo. The eco-entrepreneur has demonstrated that turning waste into valuable resources can benefit not only the environment—for example, by helping combat plastic pollution—but also GDP, by integrating waste into value chains and creating jobs. Over its dozen years of operations, AGR’s sorting centre has established itself as a model of its kind in West Africa, processing 3,000 tonnes of waste a year, including plastics, cardboard, glass, metals, and electrical and electronic equipment. At the same time, Edem d’Almeida launched the Moi Jeu Tri environmental education programme to teach schoolchildren about waste collection and recycling. Now operating in Togo, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, and soon to be rolled out in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with its headquarters in Paris, Moi Jeu Tri goes beyond simply raising awareness about recycling. It has developed an integrated approach to transforming African communities and territories. Through a network of 400 partner schools and 15 municipalities, its programmes have so far reached more than 400,000 people, supporting initiatives focused on social and professional integration, training in circular-economy professions, and green entrepreneurship. Edem d’Almeida calls for Africa’s environmental challenges to be viewed “as drivers of development, inclusion, job creation and value for local communities.” The eco-entrepreneur is now expanding into consulting and strategic advisory services for companies, institutions and governments on the challenges of sustainable transformation across African territories.