Inter Ethiopia Solutions Is Turning Lithium-Ion Battery Waste Into Affordable Energy

As of 2025, less than 1% of lithium-ion batteries in Africa are formally recycled. Despite the rapid growth of technologies that rely on lithium-ion batteries, from solar home systems to phones and electric vehicles, most countries across the continent still lack industrial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facilities. In practice, this means used batteries are stored, dumped, or discarded informally, even though many still retain significant usable life.

This gap is where Inter Ethiopia Solutions PLC operates. The company started small. Really small. Inter Ethiopia was founded in 2018 by Zelalem Nigatu with an initial capital of 200,000 Birr. At the time, it was not clear whether working on battery waste, particularly lithium-ion batteries, could even be a business in Ethiopia. There was no established recycling market, limited regulation, and little public awareness of how dangerous or valuable these batteries could be.

“We were seeing more and more solar systems being installed,” Zelalem told Shega. “But nobody was talking about what happens to them later. Batteries don’t disappear. They become waste.”

Inter Ethiopia did not immediately begin operations. For several years, the company focused on building technical capacity and understanding how lithium-ion batteries degrade over time. Full operations only began at the end of 2022, once the company had developed processes for testing, refurbishing, and safely handling used batteries and solar components.

Today, Inter Ethiopia is a circular-economy-focused e-waste management company. It specializes in renewable energy products, particularly solar systems and lithium-ion batteries, collecting what the company calls “solar and battery dirt,” end-of-life systems that would otherwise be abandoned. These materials are gathered through reverse logistics, sourced from distributors, government offices, and international organizations.

The company’s focus on lithium-ion batteries is deliberate. Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are now widely preferred and used globally because they offer high energy density, delivering more power at less weight, along with fast charging, a long lifespan, low self-discharge, and minimal maintenance. These advantages make them well-suited for everything from phones and electric vehicles to grid storage, and they generally outperform older technologies such as lead-acid batteries in both efficiency and overall performance.

While Inter Ethiopia manages various types of electronic waste, lithium-ion batteries also bring with them a unique challenge. They are chemically unstable, environmentally risky, and difficult to recycle, especially in Africa, where the recycling market for these batteries is still extremely limited. Rather than trying to jump straight into material recycling, Inter Ethiopia chose a more immediate solution: repurposing and refurbishment.

Most lithium-ion batteries lose significant capacity after about five years of use. But losing capacity does not mean they stop working. In fact, Zelalem estimates that most batteries discarded in Ethiopia have only lost about half of their useful life.

“That’s a giant opportunity,” he said. “These batteries still work. They just don’t work the way they used to.”

Inter Ethiopia collects these batteries, tests them cell by cell, grades them, and rebuilds viable ones using proper battery management systems to ensure safety and performance. The refurbished batteries are then used to produce solar home systems and other energy storage solutions.

The goal is affordability. Some of Inter Ethiopia’s refurbished solar products are sold for around 2,500 Birr, significantly below standard market prices. For rural households, this can be the difference between having electricity and relying on kerosene and candles. For businesses, refurbished systems are used to power refrigerators, store energy, or support productive activities. Farmers use them for solar water pump movers, while others rely on them for small-scale income-generating work.

“We’re trying to produce affordable energy,” Zelalem told Shega. “Not everyone can pay for brand-new systems.”

Inter Ethiopia currently employs 20 people. From its initial capital of 200,000 Birr, the company has grown to a paid-up capital of 27 million Birr. Growth has been gradual, shaped by trial, error, and the realities of working in a sector with little existing infrastructure.

The company operates with authorization from Ethiopia’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), which oversees e-waste management. This regulatory backing allows Inter Ethiopia to work formally in a space where informal handling of electronic waste is common.  EPA has been working on guidelines for e-waste management since 2021. However, little progress has been made in codifying and implementing updated regulatory frameworks.

Inter Ethiopia has also attracted international attention. The company is supported by PREO (Powering Renewable Energy Opportunities) and receives investment advisory support from GET.invest, a European programme that mobilises investment in clean energy. In 2025, Zelalem received recognition at a forum held by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe for his leadership in developing scalable, community-centered circular-economy energy models.

The impact of Inter Ethiopia’s work is tangible. So far, the company has refurbished more than 3,500 solar home systems, collected over 45 tons of solar and battery e-waste, deployed around 600 productive-use energy systems, and created skilled technical and green jobs.

Ruhama Maru, a distributor based in Dessie, has sold hundreds of Inter Ethiopia solar products over the past two years. She is also a user herself. Most of her customers are in areas around Weldiya and Ilu, where electricity is unreliable or unavailable. The solar kits include bulb lights, power banks, phone chargers, batteries, and radios. 

“One bulb light can last at least five hours on a single charge,” Ruhama says.

She sells each unit for 3,700 birr, and according to Ruhama, this is cheaper than many alternatives on the market. She adds that the product has been especially beneficial for her customers, particularly for basic lighting and phone charging.

Still, Inter Ethiopia’s work fits into a broader pattern seen across Ethiopia’s innovation space. A recent Shega story highlighted an engineering startup that builds affordable electric wheelchairs using repurposed lithium-ion batteries. Like Inter Ethiopia, that company operates in a reality where formal battery recycling is rare, and reuse becomes the most practical option available. 

Inter Ethiopia is now preparing for its next stage of growth. The company is conducting crowdfunding to raise $1.5 million, aiming to expand its refurbishment capacity and scale its operations. The funding would allow it to process more waste, produce more systems, and reach more users.

“We’re not saying this is the final solution,” Zelalem said. “But right now, repurposing makes sense. It reduces waste, it lowers costs, and it gives people energy.”