A cracked smartphone or an outdated laptop does not usually look like a business opportunity. These devices usually end up forgotten in drawers, stacked in office storerooms, or discarded as trash. Yet they contain materials that industries around the world spend billions of dollars extracting from the earth every year.

Electronic waste, better known as e-waste, is now one of the fastest-growing waste streams globally. According to the United Nations’ Global E-waste Monitor 2024, the world generated a record 62 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022. By 2030, that figure is expected to rise to 82 million tonnes. The metals contained in global e-waste generated in 2022 were worth an estimated US$91 billion. These materials include gold, copper, silver, aluminium, and other critical minerals that power modern manufacturing and technology.

E-waste contains hazardous substances such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and flame retardants that can contaminate soil, water, and air when improperly discarded. The World Health Organisation warns that informal recycling practices, particularly open burning and crude dismantling, expose workers and nearby communities to dangerous chemicals that can harm human health.

Yet, when e-waste is properly collected and processed, the valuable materials within these devices can be safely recovered and reused, turning a growing environmental challenge into an economic opportunity.  For Nigeria, this growing mountain of discarded electronics represents more than an environmental challenge. It could become a valuable economic resource.

Why Nigeria is well positioned to build an e-waste industry

Nigeria’s digital economy continues to expand, and with it comes a rising demand for electronic devices. More smartphones are entering the market, businesses are upgrading their technology more frequently, and households are replacing appliances at a faster pace than before. Every device purchased today will eventually reach the end of its useful life. In other words, every phone, computer, or television sold today is also a future source of recyclable materials.

Nigeria already has one of Africa’s strongest repair-and-reuse cultures. Across the country, phones, computers, televisions, and household appliances are frequently repaired, refurbished, and resold rather than immediately discarded.

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This thriving second-hand market, supported by technicians, refurbishers, and informal collectors, has created an existing ecosystem that understands the value of used electronics. With the right investment and regulation, this culture of reuse could become a strong foundation for a formal e-waste industry.

Around the world, companies are increasingly treating e-waste as an urban mine rather than a disposal problem. Revenue is being generated through collection services, device refurbishment, material recovery, component resale, and certified recycling operations.

Closing the gaps in Nigeria’s e-waste industry 

Despite its potential, Nigeria’s e-waste industry remains largely informal. Many households and businesses do not know where to dispose of old electronics responsibly, while collection systems and certified recycling facilities remain limited. As a result, discarded devices are often stored away, dumped in landfills, burnt or dismantled using unsafe methods that recover only a fraction of their value.

Addressing these gaps does not require building an industry from scratch. Nigeria can strengthen regulations, establish more collection points, and encourage manufacturers and importers to support recycling efforts through producer responsibility schemes. The country can also build on its existing repair-and-reuse culture by training and integrating informal collectors and technicians into formal recycling systems.

With the right policies and investment, Nigeria can transform a fragmented waste stream into a structured industry that creates jobs, attracts investment, and recovers valuable materials that would otherwise go to waste.

The business opportunity waiting to be built

Across Africa, documented formal e-waste collection and recycling rates remain below one per cent. Millions of discarded devices are stored away, dumped in landfills, or handled through informal recycling practices that recover only a fraction of their value.

For entrepreneurs and investors, this gap represents an opportunity.

Businesses can be built around collecting and transporting electronic waste, refurbishing devices for resale, recovering valuable materials, and establishing certified recycling facilities that process discarded electronics safely and efficiently.

The next major recycling industry in Nigeria may not come from plastic, paper, or glass. It may emerge from the millions of phones, laptops, televisions, and household appliances that Nigerians discard every year. The raw materials are already here, and so is a thriving culture of repair and reuse. The challenge now is whether Nigeria can build the policies, infrastructure, and investment needed to transform electronic waste from an environmental burden into a competitive industry.

Meiza Nigeria