Tweet

Toxic Business: Africa’s Scavenger Entrepreneurs

Guest post by: Fiona Mati

Article Overview: It’s a common site in most African cities – waste dumping sites where hundreds of scavengers search daily for pieces of scrap metal, plastics and other waste materials to sell for a profit. These scavenger entrepreneurs though are risking their lives in search of money for survival. In these dumps, there are toxic wastes that can be fatal.

Toxic Business: Africa’s Scavenger Entrepreneurs

It's a common site in most African cities - waste dumping sites where hundreds of scavengers search daily for pieces of scrap metal, plastics and other waste materials to sell for a profit. These scavenger entrepreneurs though are risking their lives in search of money for survival. In these dumps, there are toxic wastes that can be fatal.

In October 2009 on the popular social network Twitter, the most famous tag word was "Trafigura" - the company accused of condoning the illegal toxic dumping of a mix of petroleum residues, sulphur and caustic soda that in August 2006 led to the death of 12 people and more than 100,000 Ivorians seeking medical treatment.

According to the Basel Action Network (BAN), a disproportionate burden of toxic waste, dangerous products and polluting technologies are currently being exported from rich industrialised countries to poorer developing countries.

And mass-scale instances of toxic waste poisoning such as that in Ivory Coast is not unique. In March 2008, hundreds of people in Mombasa on Kenya's coastline complained of illness after a consignment of leaking chemical containers were dumped near the port. The symptoms experienced by the residents of the nearby slum were eerily similar to those who suffered from the toxic slops distributed in 18 dumping sites around Abidjan. Nausea, miscarriages and diarrhoea amongst other symptoms caused many to seek treatment.

In February 2009 a joint investigation by the Independent newspaper, Sky News, and Greenpeace also exposed the story of tonnes of toxic waste collected from British municipal dumps and sent illegally to Africa in flagrant violation of UK laws to ensure that "its rapidly growing mountain of defunct televisions, computers and gadgets are disposed of safely".

Indeed e-waste is slowly emerging as a major sort of refuse, according to Kenya's National Environment Management Authority. From these, the scavenger entrepreneurs risk their lives collecting metals for re-sale from disused computers, televisions, VCRs, stereos, copiers, fax machines and mobile phones.

Africa is indeed an ideal dumping ground. Apart from the inability of local environmental agencies (where environmental management laws exist) to adequately police dumping of waste, corruption also allows agents to dump waste throughout cities. And unfortunately, for the Continent's scavenger entrepreneur's this is the only way they can make a living.

Related Articles
  Do you have a toxic employee in your workplace?
  Non Toxic Laundry Detergent – Why is Bio-degradable so Important for Your Family and Health?
  Toxic Leadership and Change Management - How to Spot it, Deal With it and Avoid it
  How to Dispose of Negative People in 7 simple steps
  Real Estate Marketing Strategies - How To Stay Positive In Today's Market

Article Tags: Africa, african cities, dumps, entrepreneurs, money, plastics, risking their lives, scavengers, scrap metal, survival, toxic business, toxic wastes, waste materials



Related Forum Posts
Boosting Self Confidence - Thanks Barbara! That is great advice. It goes to removing Toxic people and situations from your life. I like to remind people that they were born - thus granting them worthy to exist. No one can take away or add to your self worth. Simple but true. If you woke up this morning - you deserve to exist. J
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Elevator Pitch in 10 Words - "Winning Business Design For Aspiring Entrepreneurs Based On Their Idea"
A ton of Great Women - You might want to profile Teresa Cascioli of LakePort Brewery. She has an amazing story! I met her at at the celebratory luncheon for the Profit/Chatelaine Top 100 Women Business Owners. The Top 100 list is also a great resource for inspirational stories of Women Entrepreneurs.
Re: Hello EvanCarmichaelers, and Thanks! - "Carmichaelers" ..nice.. Over at the Young Entrepreneurs I'm going to start calling my readers "DSilvelers" - I like the sound of that! Welcome on board theFranchiseMarket. Do you run a Franchise Business or are involved in Franchising in anyway?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Your Local Small Business Online Marketing Funnel

Ten Twitter Tips For Work-at-Home Moms

Life is a Balancing Act!

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.