Conakry's 2,500-Tonne Daily Waste Problem Meets Zoomlion PPP

Conakry generates more than 2,500 tonnes of municipal solid waste every day, and for years the city has collected only 44 to 55 per cent of it. A public-private partnership signed in early November between the Guinean government and Ghana's Jospong Group of Companies now assigns the task of changing that arithmetic to Zoomlion Guinea Integrated Waste Solutions Limited (ZGIWSL).

Under the agreement, ZGIWSL will manage and operate key Zone de Tri et de Transit (ZTT) transfer stations, organise collection in Conakry's major public markets and transport waste to the Baritodé landfill and future resource-recovery facilities. It will work with the Ministry of Sanitation, Hydraulics and Hydrocarbons (MAHH) and the National Agency for Sanitation and Public Health (ANASP).

Jospong's executive chairman, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, led a delegation that paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah on Tuesday, November 3, after the signing.

Why the deal came now

The system's weaknesses were exposed in August 2025, when torrential rainfall triggered the collapse of the main Dar-es-Salam landfill at Gbessia, claiming at least 30 lives. The closure forced authorities to redirect waste to distant disposal sites outside the city centre, straining transport and transfer infrastructure.

Sanitation Minister Aboubacar Camara said the collapse motivated President Mamadi Doumbouya to order the site closed. "We cleaned the city, but afterwards we would gather these piles of trash again in the middle of the city," he said. He noted that Guinea had struggled for roughly 30 years to find a lasting solution, and that Guinean teams travelled to Ghana several times to study Jospong's operations before contracts binding the Ministry and the communes of Conakry were finalised after a three-day visit.

What does the partnership change for the material stream?

Waste characterisation studies cited in the agreement show Conakry's household waste comprises approximately 46 per cent organic matter, 18 per cent plastics, seven per cent metals, six per cent glass and six per cent paper and cardboard. Under ZGIWSL's circular approach, these fractions will be separated and recovered rather than landfilled directly.

Organic waste will be processed into compost for Guinean farmers, while recovered plastics, paper, glass and metals will feed domestic recycling and manufacturing, with the stated aim of expanding SME participation in the sanitation value chain. The initiative could also open ecological restoration of former disposal sites, including Gbessia, drawing on Zoomlion's record of converting degraded sites into public spaces.

Built capacity versus announced commitments

The operating agreement is signed; the processing plant is not yet built. Camara thanked Dr Agyepong for committing funds toward the early establishment of a waste processing and recovery facility, projected to create between 2,000 and 3,000 jobs. Administrative arrangements, land allocation and legal frameworks are still being advanced under the Prime Minister and the MAHH.

Jospong says it operates in 29 countries, holds an asset base exceeding $2.4 billion, employs about 10,000 people and maintains a research pool of more than 200 PhD holders in waste engineering and related fields. Agyepong also cited $180 million in reported infrastructure investments in Lagos State, Nigeria, as evidence of delivery capacity. He said equipment for Conakry would be purpose-built rather than standard imports — "exactement à nos propres besoins," or exactly tailored to local needs.

An African financing model, and a deadline to watch

Agyepong framed the deal as a departure from conventional development finance. "For over 30 years in Africa, governments have depended almost exclusively on World Bank and IMF frameworks to solve urban sanitation problems, which has repeatedly proven unsustainable over time," he said. "What we are bringing to Guinea is a self-sustaining, circular industrial model built on localised African capacity."

Prime Minister Bah placed the partnership in a diplomatic frame. "The relationship between Ghana and Guinea has been historic, dating back to the days of independence," he said. "This partnership is a continuation of that brotherhood."

The agreement sits within Simandou 2040, Guinea's 15-year national development framework, which prioritises sanitation coverage expansion and waste collection modernisation. Camara stressed that success depends on community participation as much as equipment; ZGIWSL will run education campaigns through schools, communes, traditional leaders and youth organisations.

The milestone to track is the commissioning of the announced processing and recovery plant — the moment Conakry's 2,500 daily tonnes gain somewhere to go besides the middle of the city.