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Keeping electronics in service, and their value in Africa
ELCI trains, certifies and equips the people who keep electronic equipment in service, and who recover what can no longer be kept. It treats every failed board as a resource to be valued, not a waste to be disposed of.
Vision
A world in which nothing made is wasted, no electronic equipment that serves life stands idle for want of care, and no carer works without honour — beginning in Africa, and offered from Africa to all.
Mission
To develop, certify and support the engineers, technicians, quality professionals and circularity managers who extend the life of electronics, prove the results, and recover resources responsibly.
Why ELCI exists
From e-waste to e-value
The linear model — make, use, discard — leaks value at every failure. The word "waste" classifies equipment by its owner's wish to discard it, not by the value it still holds. ELCI works from the opposite premise: equipment holds e-value until proven otherwise, and hazardous fractions stay under strict control.
- 62 Mt
- E-waste generated worldwide in 2022
- 22.3%
- Documented as properly collected and recycled
- 0.7%
- Africa's documented collection rate
- US$91bn
- Value of metals in the stream; about US$28bn recovered
Exposure
Much equipment arrives second-hand through weakly documented channels, so legitimate reuse and disguised dumping are hard to tell apart.
Capability
Africa has one of the world's deepest repair cultures — a strength other regions are trying to rebuild.
Demography
The world's youngest continent needs skilled, decentralised technical work. Certified lifecycle care is a strong pathway into the digital economy.
Mandate
What ELCI is charged to do
| Mandate | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Educate | Competency-based programmes from technician foundation to circularity leadership. |
| Certify | Independent, evidence-based assessment with a public register of holders. |
| Research | Applied work on diagnostics, reliability, remanufacturing, material recovery and circularity measurement. |
| Set practice | Procedures, quality gates and reporting methods aligned to international standards. |
| Innovate with industry | Laboratories, pilots and services that move repair-first practice into operators, utilities and producers. |
| Inform policy | Evidence for e-value classification, Device Passports, producer responsibility repair targets and national electronics registers. |
Core values
How we work
Repair first
Keeping a working asset working is the most valuable act in the lifecycle. Recycling is the last resort.
Value, not volume
Success is measured in value retained and emissions avoided, not tonnes collected.
Proof over promise
Every circularity claim is backed by traceable records, mass balance and sourced factors.
Safety and stewardship
People, data and environment are protected at every step; hazardous fractions are never compromised.
Local capability, global standard
African technicians, trained and assessed to international benchmarks.
Ubuntu in practice
Knowledge is shared, the repair fundi is respected, and prosperity is built with communities.
Leadership
Led by practice
ELCI was founded by Ogola Ndolo — Electronics Engineer, Entrepreneur and Circularity Director. He is Founder and Managing Director of Nobscott Limited (CME — Centre for Multivendor Electronics) and of EMROC — The Electronics Care Company, and author of the ELCT, ELC-QA and ELC-ECM certification books and manuals and of the "Third Mine" framing of Africa's electronics lifecycle opportunity.
Governance principles
- Impartiality. Assessment decisions rest on evidence alone; a second assessor is used where a trainer assesses their own trainees.
- Programme control. A public certificate register; records kept at least six years; appeals heard by a different assessor.
- Trainer standards. Trainers hold the level they teach plus field experience, and are observed teaching every year.
- Honest claims. ELCI certificates are competency certificates aligned to IPC and ISO standards. They are never described as IPC or accredited ISO credentials.
Global peers and positioning
Distinct among respected peers
Several institutions share parts of ELCI's vision. None combines repair-level certification, quality assurance and ESG circularity in one pathway built for Africa. ELCI sees them as peers and natural partners.
| Institution | Focus | What ELCI adds |
|---|---|---|
| CALCE, University of Maryland | Electronics reliability, failure analysis and prognostics | Technician certification and circularity reporting |
| Golisano Institute for Sustainability, RIT | Remanufacturing and material recovery | Repair-first practice across the whole lifecycle |
| UNITAR SCYCLE | E-waste statistics, policy and the E-waste Academy | Bench skills and certified practitioners |
| Fraunhofer IZM | Reliability, ecodesign and recycling research | Training and certification at scale |
| IPC | Workmanship standards and licensed training | Lifecycle decisions, quality systems and ESG evidence |