The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) is the agency of the Lagos State Government responsible for Solid Waste Management. This include collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of waste generated from different sources with Lagos precincts such as public waste, medical waste, construction waste, commercial and industrial waste etc.

LAWMA is the team lead for Work Package 2 which is the Think the Green Waste Management skills and jobs of the future with the objectives to provide a skill gap analysis and recommendations to develop curriculum designs for training courses and business training programs totally focused on deficiencies, demands and on improving the competitiveness of industry, micro, small and medium businesses. The skill gap analysis will use a combination of desk research, data gathering from different sources (i.e. statistical data and supply chain projection growth) and qualitative interviews with industry decision makers both from the public and private sector. This also helps to identify skills that are currently short in supply in the Green Waste Management supply chain in Ghana and Nigeria and that are: in increasing demand because of the development of specific economic sectors; necessary to realise the regional development plan; and/or helpful in improving the productivity of informal workers and alleviating poverty. 

1. What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the waste management sector in Africa?

The major challenges in the Waste Management Sector in Africa are:

• Insufficient funding;
• Lack of proper waste infrastructures;
• Technological deficiency.

2. What do you think is going to be the biggest long-term impact of the project?

We believe that the project will foster capacity building thanks to which the whole operational efficiency of the project will be improved.

3. What do you think is the added value of addressing the Waste Management?

Addressing the Waste Management Industry’s issue in an international cooperation project is a great stimulus, because it exposes the consortium to the exchange of best practices, contemporary solutions, as well as the sharing of the development of joint solutions to common issues.