Initiated by Project Lighthouse Africa, a consortium of German SMEs, local Gambian partners and five universities – TU Dresden, FU Berlin, University of Koblenz-Landau, UN University and the University of The Gambia – a joint research and development project in The Gambia has been in the planning stages since mid-2016. The project, which will be carried out in cooperation with the United Nations and the University of The Gambia, is entitled ‘Integrated, community-based material flow management and biomass-based energy production in The Gambia’.

In line with the principles of the circular economy, which views waste as a resource, we will be developing sustainable technical concepts and management strategies for waste and water management, as well as the partially coupled production of energy and humus for soil improvement, from 2017/2018 onwards.

The joint project, titled ‘MATERGY – Creating Prospects for Africa’, is a direct response to the German government’s Africa strategy and the need to create prospects for the population in sub-Saharan African countries.