Governance and Policy Challenges for Sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Management in Luanda (Angola)

Municipal solid waste management remains a major environmental and public health challenge in rapidly urbanising cities in sub-Saharan Africa. This study analyses municipal solid waste management in Luanda, Angola, focusing on institutional, regulatory, and operational dimensions. The analysis uses secondary data from official, technical, and academic sources covering 2018–2026 and selected for relevance to waste generation and composition, pre-collection, collection and transport, recycling, final disposal, and governance. Luanda is compared with Windhoek (Namibia), Cape Town (South Africa), and Kigali (Rwanda), based on available information on their municipal solid waste management systems. Based on national statistics reported in the 2025 National Report on Municipal Solid Waste in Angola, together with demographic data from the 2024 Luanda Population Census, municipal waste generation in Luanda was estimated at 1.96 million tonnes in 2025, of which approximately 80% of the waste generated was collected. Major deficiencies in pre-collection, infrastructure, and service coverage contribute to uncontrolled dumping, burning, and burial. Key challenges include institutional fragmentation, insufficient infrastructure, weak policy implementation, and low public awareness. The comparison examines differences in municipal solid waste management organisation, considering available information on waste generation and composition, collection and transport, final disposal, regulatory and institutional frameworks, and management practices. It contextualises Luanda’s challenges in light of each city’s specific circumstances. This study identifies opportunities for urban reorganisation, investment in treatment infrastructure, waste picker inclusion, environmental education, and institutional decentralisation.