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Key Points
- Ghana’s Jospong Group will develop a full-cycle waste management system in Burkina Faso, following high-level talks with Prime Minister Ouédraogo.
- The agreement prioritizes capacity-building, with Burkinabe youth set to train in Ghana to lead local waste management operations.
- Jospong’s model, already active in 24 African countries, is advancing regional sustainability through partnerships in Nigeria, The Gambia, and now Burkina Faso.
After finalizing a major deal to close dumpsites in Lagos, Ghanaian businessman Joseph Siaw Agyepong is wasting no time. Through Zoomlion Ghana, the flagship company of the Jospong Group, he is now expanding his footprint in sustainable waste management to Burkina Faso.
Ghanaian tycoon partners with Ouagadougou
This new chapter follows a high-level meeting between Agyepong and Burkina Faso’s Prime Minister, Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo. This week, Agyepong led a delegation to Ouagadougou for talks attended by the Burkinabe Minister of Environment, Roger Baro, and Burkina Faso’s Ambassador to Ghana, Major Colonel David Kabre. The discussions marked a milestone in plans to implement a comprehensive waste management system in the country.
The initiative will cover the full waste management chain, collection, recycling, recovery, and treatment, adapting successful models used in Ghana to meet Burkina Faso’s growing environmental needs. This partnership is part of a broader collaboration between the two nations, reinforced by the Ghanaian President’s official visit to Burkina Faso in March.
Ghana’s Jospong eyes regional waste growth
Over the past two decades, Agyepong has grown the Jospong Group into one of Ghana’s most diversified enterprises, with interests spanning sanitation, technology, finance, and automotive services. In Ghana, the group operates 58 waste management sites and 16 recycling and composting facilities. Its expertise has already been shared across 24 African countries, and Burkina Faso is now the latest to benefit from this experience.
Speaking about the initiative, Prime Minister Ouédraogo welcomed the project, describing it as a boost for local capacity and a crucial step toward creating jobs and cleaner communities. “We are committed to supporting partners who invest in our country and bring real change,” he said.
Agyepong, in turn, praised Burkina Faso’s leadership under President Captain Ibrahim Traoré and expressed confidence in the country’s commitment to development. He announced that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Environment is in the final stages and will soon be signed, paving the way for the infrastructure phase of the project.
Youth training anchors Burkina Faso deal
One of the key pillars of the agreement is local empowerment. The Jospong Group will train Burkinabe youth in Ghana to manage operations back home. “We’re not exporting workers. We’re building capacity,” Agyepong said. “Young people in Burkina Faso will take the lead in running these services. It’s their future, and they should be the ones shaping it.”
This Burkina Faso deal comes on the heels of Agyepong’s recent breakthrough in Nigeria. In partnership with the Lagos State Government, Zoomlion is helping reshape waste management in Africa’s most populous city. The initiative will phase out key dumpsites and introduce a new system focused on recycling and resource recovery, including the construction of two Transfer Loading Stations at Olusosun and Solous III.
Earlier this year, a similar agreement was reached with The Gambia after officials visited Ghana to see Jospong’s operations firsthand. That deal was hailed as “an African solution to an African challenge”—a phrase that continues to reflect Agyepong’s mission: building practical, homegrown solutions to the continent’s growing waste problems.
