Scaling second-life batteries: What it takes to build a circular energy storage industry
Building a circular energy storage industry in Africa requires an ecosystem that preserves battery value across the full lifecycle, from design and use to repair, repurposing and, ultimately, recycling.
A major starting point is collection and traceability. Africa has the lowest documented formal e-waste collection and recycling rate globally, at just 0.7% in 2022, according to the Global E-waste Monitor 2024. When batteries fall outside formal recovery systems, valuable materials and usable storage capacity are lost, alongside opportunities for jobs in collection, logistics, diagnostics, repair, repurposing and recycling.
Circularity must also begin at the design stage. First-life systems should be repairable, modular and easier to disassemble, with operating data retained throughout their lifecycle. This improves maintenance, supports safer second-life decisions and makes eventual material recovery more efficient.
Africa must also invest in infrastructure and skills. As battery chemistries and formats diversify, the continent needs adaptable testing and grading laboratories, repair and repurposing facilities, recycling capacity, traceability platforms and technicians trained across multiple battery technologies.
Finance is equally critical. IFC’s Circular Economy Investment Tracker shows that Africa attracted only 0.2% of disclosed private circular-economy investment between 2018 and 2024, while 93% went to high-income economies. It also found that 62% of tracked investment flowed into established value-recovery activities such as recycling and material recovery, illustrating how much harder it can be for newer circular-use models to attract capital. Development finance can address early feedstock, technology and performance risks through guarantees, first-loss capital, concessional debt and blended-finance structures, allowing commercial finance to enter as operating histories mature.
Policy must keep pace. The EU Battery Regulation introduces battery passports and explicitly provides for batteries that are reused, repurposed or remanufactured, including information on state of health, operating history and dismantling. India’s Battery Waste Management Rules similarly recognise both recycling and refurbishment within Extended Producer Responsibility obligations. These provide useful lessons for African markets developing standards around second-life battery safety, testing, traceability and responsibility.
At AceleAfrica, we have built first-life systems, tested more than 700,000 lithium-ion cells and repurposed over 600,000 across Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. Our work spans productive-use energy, electric mobility, clean cooking, mini-grids, battery-lab infrastructure and technical skilling.
The lesson is clear: scaling second-life batteries requires coordinated investment in collection, circular design, infrastructure, skills, finance, policy and recycling. That is what can turn battery circularity from a technical solution into a competitive African industry.