Rising Tide Africa invests $1m to boost waste collection by market women, pickers

Rising Tide Africa says it has committed up to $1 million to Ororo Waste Management Limited to expand Nigeria’s used cooking oil collection network from three hubs to more than 40 nationwide over the next five years.

The investment is expected to help Ororo Waste grow its formally paid collector network from about 5,000 currently to more than 200,000 by 2031, while scaling certified used cooking oil (UCO) collection to more than 150,000 metric tonnes annually.

Rising Tide Africa, a women-led pan-African angel investment network, said the funding would support collection infrastructure, feedstock purchases and working capital for Ororo Waste, Lagos State’s partner for institutional-scale UCO collection and export.

The first tranche of the corporate note was received by Ororo Waste on September 16, with further tranches expected to be funded through December 16.

Ororo Waste said its network would provide a formal income stream for market women, waste pickers and youths while supplying certified waste-based feedstock for products including sustainable aviation fuel and biodiesel.

The company, which has operated for five years, currently has collection hubs in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. It plans to expand the network to more than 40 hubs nationally within five years.

The investment also follows a training programme conducted in July by Ororo Waste in partnership with the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Shell Foundation and the Waste Pickers Association of Nigeria (WAPAN), which equipped about 250 market women, waste pickers and youths with skills in safe oil collection, storage, quality control and traceability.

Rising Tide Africa co-founder, Yemi Keri, said the investment would help formalise work already being done by market women and waste pickers.

“Market women and waste pickers already do most of the collecting. Few have ever been paid fairly for that work, and even fewer at scale,” Keri said.

She said the investment would fund infrastructure needed to pay collectors on the same day for the used cooking oil supplied through the network.

Ororo Waste co-CEO, Ayo Banjo, said the company’s collection platform uses GPS and QR codes to track transactions from collectors to export containers, while payments are made through mobile money.

According to him, the company has exported thousands of tonnes of UCO without quality rejections, supported by its International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC).

Under the partnership, women are expected to account for at least half, and potentially up to three-quarters, of newly onboarded market-level collection points.

Ororo Waste also plans to establish a baseline income survey of collectors recruited through the July training and report annually on income, employment and gender outcomes.

The company said the expansion would strengthen Nigeria’s position in the growing market for certified waste-based feedstocks, particularly as European renewable-energy rules support demand for sustainable alternatives in transport fuels.

The investment gives Rising Tide Africa exposure to Ororo Waste’s planned nationwide expansion while providing capital for the infrastructure, storage, transportation and working capital required to build the collection network.