Africa Circular — formerly the ACEN Foundation — is a non-profit organisation advancing the circular economy in Africa through local experts and connected communities.
Founded in 2021 by the African Circular Economy Network (ACEN), together with Trinomics, one of the leading international policy consultancies in environment, energy and climate — and working independently since 2025 on a strong African structure of regional coordinators and more than forty national focal points.
ACEN and Trinomics join forces to create a non-profit dedicated to developing the circular economy in Africa through local expertise.
Roadmaps, action plans and market studies delivered in Rwanda, Nigeria, Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire and beyond — with partners including the AU, GIZ, UNIDO and the EU.
Africa Circular begins operating independently, anchored by regional coordinators across the continent and a network of 40+ national focal points.
A secure, bilingual home for the network — expert profiles, CV intelligence and opportunities, at africacircular.online.
There is a huge need to develop a pool of qualified, capacitated local experts who can lead the circular economy transition at local, national and international level — across policy, business, industry and academia.
Committed, qualified people are already active in all these fields. What's missing is scale and coordination. We identify and capacitate experts on the ground through networking and targeted training, and build capacity in governments to enable decision-making in favour of circularity, climate action and sustainable development.
A strong, diverse, multi-disciplinary community of circular economy experts in Africa — able to cover every relevant sector, engage every stakeholder group, and back it with accessible training: general CE understanding, sector-specific knowledge, and the strategic capacity for governance and financing.
Improved technical and social skills among established and emerging practitioners and governments — local, national, regional and continental.
A pro-active approach to generating projects where they matter most:
Competing for the work that moves the transition — mostly launched by international institutions:
Countries in the network
National focal points
Regional coordinators
Projects documented