BACKGROUND
Over the last couple of years, unrelenting digitization has made companies And digital technology manufacturing countries step up production to meet
the ever-increasing demand for ICT goods globally. In the global South,
inadequate capacity (in a number of cases, lack of it) coupled with the low purchasing
capacity of citizens has opened up a grey market for substandard and second-hand
digital goods that get into these countries from the global North. These sub-standard
and second-hand goods have a short life span, the result of which is the acceleration
of the production of electronic wastes (e-waste) in these countries. Weak
governments that are often beholden to a multinational lobby have relaxed
regulatory controls and oversight, allowing not only the importation of these
substandard goods but also the importation of e-waste through various trading
schemes. These have combined, resulting in the creation of huge “dams” of e-waste
in counties of the global South.
The stockpiling of e-waste with its hazardous substances has become a major
challenge for many global southern countries. The irony is that the countries that are
not responsible for the global production of e-waste now bear the burden of its crisis.
At the same time, these countries have the least capacity to manage e-waste safely.
Nigeria is a typical example of a country where e-waste accumulation has assumed a
crisis proportion, threatening the lives of citizens and making the environment
unsustainable. To address this challenge, the country needs to learn from best
practices in managing e-waste through recycling and adapting initiatives and policies
that will lead to a seeding circular economy in the digital technology sector of the
country.
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