The circular economy (CE) represents a fundamental shift in how organizations design, operate and renew their built environment. Moving away from the traditional "take-make-waste" linear model, the circular approach seeks to eliminate waste, extend the life cycle of materials and assets, and regenerate value across operations. This shift offers both a strategic opportunity and a practical challenge: how can facility management in Africa embrace the circular economy to unlock new value and impact for organizations, society and the environment? This question formed the foundation of IFMA’s 2025 Executive Roundtable: African Edition, which brought together senior FM leaders and cross-sector experts from across the African continent to explore the role of circular FM in Africa.
Building on IFMA’s 2024 research report, “Circular FM: The Role of the Circular Economy in Facility Management,” the 2025 executive roundtable moved the conversation from theory to action, examining not only what circularity means for FM in Africa, but how it can be operationalized with FM at the helm.
METHODOLOGY
To surface rich, practical insights, the roundtable used a Knowledge Café format, based on World Café methodology. Participants rotated between five discussion tables, each exploring a key question:
- Opportunities | What opportunities and examples exist for applying circular FM in Africa?
- Barriers | What barriers limit the adoption of circular FM across African regions?
- Organizational Collaboration | How can FM collaborate with other business functions (for example, C-suite, Real Estate, Finance, Procurement, IT) to drive circular change?
- Government & Regional Role | What role should African governments, municipalities and regional bodies play to encourage circular FM practices?
- Measurement & Communication | How can facility managers in Africa best measure and communicate the benefits of circular practices to clients, stakeholders and communities?What challenges could this department face?
Each group built on the ideas left by the previous participants, generating cumulative, diverse and collaborative input that reflected both strategic vision and operational insight relevant to African FM contexts.
OVERVIEW OF KEY FINDINGS
The African executive roundtable highlighted a clear enthusiasm for circular solutions already emerging on the ground, particularly in areas such as renewable energy, waste recovery, material reuse and localized circular practices. It also revealed structural barriers that can slow or fragment adoption across regions and industries.
Five thematic areas emerged across the discussions:
- Tangible opportunities already exist and can be expanded: Participants highlighted practical examples of circular FM already in place on a smaller scale, especially in renewable energy, water reuse and material recovery. There was a strong sense that Africa can build on these examples rather than start from scratch.
- Barriers are structural, cultural & financial: While the concept of CE resonates, many participants pointed to gaps in regulation, infrastructure, supply chains and awareness as major obstacles to adoption.
- FM’s role as a cross-functional connector is central: FM was seen as uniquely positioned to bring together procurement, IT, finance, real estate and leadership to drive collaborative change.
- Government leadership & policy will be pivotal: There was strong consensus that governments and municipalities must lead through policy, incentives and capacity building to provide a stable framework for circular transition.
- Measurement & communication drive buy-in and scale: Participants underscored the importance of defining clear, relevant metrics and demonstrating proof of concept to build credibility and momentum.
Together, these findings reinforce that a circular economy transition is as much about people and culture as it is about materials and systems.
The following pages detail the specific roles, insights, and needs identified by each organizational function during the Roundtable conversations.
- Tangible opportunities already exist and can be expanded:Participants highlighted practical examples of circular FM already in place on a smaller scale, especially in renewable energy, water reuse and material recovery. There was a strong sense that Africa can build on these examples rather than start from scratch.
- Barriers are structural, cultural & financial:While the concept of CE resonates, many participants pointed to gaps in regulation, infrastructure, supply chains and awareness as major obstacles to adoption.
- FM’s role as a cross-functional connector is central:FM was seen as uniquely positioned to bring together procurement, IT, finance, real estate and leadership to drive collaborative change.
- Government leadership & policy will be pivotal:There was strong consensus that governments and municipalities must lead through policy, incentives and capacity building to provide a stable framework for circular transition.
- Measurement & communication drive buy-in and scale:Participants underscored the importance of defining clear, relevant metrics and demonstrating proof of concept to build credibility and momentum.
Together, these findings reinforce that a circular economy transition is as much about people and culture as it is about materials and systems.
The following pages detail the specific roles, insights, and needs identified by each organizational function during the Roundtable conversations.
International Facility Management Association (IFMA) supports over 25,000 members in 140 countries. Since 1980, IFMA has worked to advance the FM profession through education, events, credentialing, research, networking and knowledge-sharing.