Waste mismanagement, environmental externalities, circular economy and sustainable urban waste governance in African cities

Rapid urban growth has outpaced municipal solid-waste services in African cities, increasing uncontrolled disposal and environmental and health risks. This scoping review mapped relationships among waste-governance conditions, service and infrastructure failures, environmental and socio-economic externalities, circular economy interventions and financing mechanisms. Searches of Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, Google Scholar and institutional sources were conducted between 10 March and 20 August 2026. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR), 734 records were identified, 187 full texts were assessed and 85 sources were included. Evidence was coded by city, waste type, management stage, source characteristics, authorship origin and five analytical domains. The comparative analysis covered Lagos, Accra, Dakar, Freetown, Nairobi, Kampala, Harare, Maputo and Johannesburg. Inadequate collection, uneven service coverage, fragmented institutional responsibilities and poorly controlled disposal were consistently reported failures. Documented effects included drainage obstruction and flooding, atmospheric emissions, soil and water contamination and community and occupational exposure. Informal workers were central to documented material recovery, although recognition and protection remained limited. Financing evidence was strongest for household charges, revenue, private collection contracts and development-funded projects; green bonds,Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)-aligned finance and smart technologies remained prospective. Operational examples included organic-waste recovery in Freetown and landfill-gas infrastructure in Johannesburg. Financing and technology were linked to specific waste streams, facilities and management stages. Sustainable improvements require financing arrangements designed for the service failures and infrastructure needs documented in each city. The evidence base was predominantly English language and geographically concentrated in West, East and Southern Africa; North and Central African cities were not represented among the focal-city comparisons.