Making Charcoal from Human Waste - An Interesting African Solution to an African Problem

Sanitation and cooking fuels are two of Africa’s biggest problems. What we haven’t realised is one of them is a solution for the other.

I’ll tell you how.

Many of Africa’s big cities have a bad reputation for poor waste management. Due to unregulated dumps and improper drainage and sewage systems, collected human waste is most often dumped into the sea.

Shocking, but it’s true. From Accra to Lagos, and from Kinshasha to Nairobi, this is exactly what happens.

On the other hand, cooking fuels are also a major handicap for many Africans. Due to a heavy dependence on firewood and charcoal as cooking fuels, the continent’s forests are fast depleting.

In the face of these two daunting challenges, a team of entrepreneurs in Accra, the capital of Ghana in West Africa, have come up with an interesting way of converting smelly human waste into an odourless, healthy and energy-efficient cooking fuel which looks exactly like charcoal.

Don’t believe what you’re reading right now?

Watch the video for yourself.

You see, Africa has the potential to solve its own problems in ingenious and amazing ways.

Rather than complain about our problems, we need to start seeing these problems as exciting opportunities to create impact, jobs and wealth.

We can do this.

Let’s go, Africa!