Top UK Science Adviser visits Global Alliance Africa partner in Nigeria

Professor Watts’ visit to Hinckley Associates Nigeria (Hinckley Recycling) was planned by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), in collaboration with Innovate UK Global Alliance Africa, a six-year project funded by UK International Development through Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and FCDO. Global Alliance Africa is designed to accelerate innovation and drive sustainable development across Africa by fostering collaboration between governments, businesses, and academia.

Professor Watts’s visit signalled the strong relationship between the UK and Nigeria. She is the senior scientist at the FCDO and delivers expert advice to the UK Foreign Secretary, ministers, and senior officials on critical scientific issues, including during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. She also heads the Research and Evidence Directorate, which advances the FCDO’s geopolitical and development expertise and leads the UK’s overseas science and innovation diplomatic network.

“It’s my first visit to Nigeria and it’s great to be here. It’s such an incredibly vibrant country with innovative organisations that have expertise within the sustainable electronics technology industry and I’m excited to see how the collaboration between the UK and Nigeria continues into the future,” said Professor Watts.

Leading the e-waste recycling revolution

Professor Watts’ visit underscored the importance of the UK’s collaboration with Nigeria and highlighted the UK’s commitment to delivering shared prosperity and tackling global issues. During her visit she spent time at Global Alliance Africa projects in Nigeria, meeting with stakeholders, innovators, and partners to explore the transformative impact of the projects on economic growth, job creation, and societal challenges in Nigeria.

One of the central visits was to Hinckley Recycling in Lagos, the first e-waste recycler in Nigeria. It works closely with the Ministry of Environment, the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Environmental Enforcement Agency, and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, and offers innovative services from e-waste collection and recycling to battery testing and regeneration.

Nigeria is Africa’s leading electrical and electronic equipment importer, with over half a million tons of discarded electronics processed yearly. Because breaking down electrical equipment releases pollutants and mercury, it poses a significant risk to the environment, as well as the health of the 100,000 people working in Nigeria’s electronics recycling sector. This is why Hinckley Recycling, through collaboration, is working on innovative green solutions.

“We’re developing a battery passport with the assistance of the technology provider Enverse,” says Adrian Clews, Founder/CEO at Hinckley Recycling “They developed a management system for us whereby we can test the battery cell, record the characteristics and performance of that cell, and apply a physical QR code to it so we know the source of where the battery came from and the second-life solution that it was used in.”

“Hinckley Recycling is one of the organisations we are most proud of, especially in terms of how the UK-Nigeria collaboration is translating into big opportunities for job creation,” says Joshua Adedeji, Country Lead – Global Alliance Africa, Nigeria at Innovate UK Business Connect.

This collaboration has been critical to Hinckley Recycling’s success, enabling the organisation to lean on the support of technical and software experts to develop solutions. “We’ve been partnering with Innovate UK for several years,” says Clews. “They’ve been fundamental to us developing capacity and technical know-how in the battery space.”

Following Open Innovation projects funded by Global Alliance Africa in March 2023, Hinckley Recycling collaborated with SMEs from the UK (Enverse and Acceleron) and Rwanda (SLS Energy) in solutions to second-life usage of Lithium-ion batteries, helping it to raise $5m investment in October 2024 to set up Africa’s first lithium-ion battery recycling plant in Ogun State, Nigeria. The visit highlights the UK’s commitment to strengthening partnerships in innovation and development to deliver shared prosperity and tackle global issues.

“The Hinckley partnerships continue to reinforce the importance of Innovate UK’s work in Africa in driving UK-Africa partnerships.” says Professor Watts.

One of Hinckley Recycling’s core focuses is on developing solutions for second-life battery packs. Second-life batteries reduce landfill waste and the resource-intensive demand for raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, but the cost of repurposing batteries for second lives can often be prohibitive compared to manufacturing new ones. Hinckley’s solutions address this cost imbalance, and its innovative work has been funded by Innovate UK, Global Alliance Africa, and the FCDO.

“What I’ve seen at Hinckley Recycling is incredibly exciting,” says Professor Watts. “They’re generating these solutions and I’m very proud that some of the funding and support the UK has provided is enabling this work to continue developing. Now, the battery packs are being used by shopkeepers in remote areas to run their businesses and support their trade.”