Leapfrogging Possibilities For Sustainable Consumption and ...

Figure 5: Population of Selected Large Cities in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1965, 1990,
and 2015 12
2.3.1.4 Solid waste
The solid waste problem consists of mainly the issue of municipal solid waste, plastic
waste and old electronic products and electronic waste.
The total amount of municipal solid waste is increasing rapidly. The major cities in West
Africa produce between 150,000 to 300,000 tons of MSW per year. Residents in Accra,
Ghana, generated about 800 tons of solid wastes per day in 1990, with an annual increase
of 6% 13 . The solid waste generation of selected cities in Africa ranges from 0.3 to 1.9 kg
per person per day (Table 3). This increase is a serious problem considering the fact that
it is happening in urban centres in Africa that do not have any kind of waste management
other than a mere dumping site. With little equipment to manage the refuse, garbage was
only collected in high-income areas. The rest was dumped in unauthorized dumping sites,
11 UNDESA (2008)
12 UN-PD (2000)
13 Palczynski (2002)
14