The role of circular economy to address Africa’s environmental, social and governance challenges: a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis

The circular economy (CE) is a model that aims to minimise waste and maximise the use of resources by extending a product’s lifecycle for as long as possible. Africa is considered a plastic economy, and its biggest challenge is unmanaged plastic pollution, as it represents a potential threat to vulnerable communities. Therefore, adopting CE can be feasible for the African economy to address the continent’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges. The authors have conducted a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis to identify the extent of CE-related scientific literature to analyse the key themes, sources and other descriptive analyses covering African-based literature. The findings suggest that most literature discussed the CE paradigm from a sustainable development goal perspective. The three common themes that were widely discussed i.e., resource efficiency: this approach can help to reduce waste and increase the longevity of resources; the second one discusses finding the solution as its essential to develop solutions that are tailored to meet the specific needs of the African community, considering local resources and socio-economic conditions. The third theme discusses the key to collaboration among different stakeholders.