Botswana Turns To Zimbabwe’s Geo Pomona For Help With Landfill Crisis

Botswana is looking to Zimbabwe for help addressing persistent waste-management problems, including landfill fires, illegal dumping and unreliable household rubbish collection.

The government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Zimbabwean company Geo Pomona Waste Management to explore technical cooperation, training and the rehabilitation of waste-disposal facilities.

The agreement was signed in Gaborone on 8 October 2026 and witnessed by Botswana President Duma Boko.

It does not constitute the award of a commercial contract. Instead, it provides a framework for technical cooperation and capacity building, with further assessments required before specific projects can proceed.

The move comes as Botswana continues to face challenges maintaining its landfill infrastructure and providing reliable waste collection, particularly in rural communities.

Botswana's Landfill And Waste Collection Challenges

The scale of the country's waste-management difficulties was outlined in Parliament in February 2023, when government disclosed that the Ministry of Local Government operated 14 landfills.

Assistant Minister Setlhabelo Modukanele acknowledged that resource constraints had prevented timely maintenance and replacement of specialised landfill equipment.

The figure refers to government-operated landfills, rather than every informal dumping site across the country.

Statistics Botswana's 2022 Population and Housing Census also highlighted gaps in household waste collection.

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Only 54.9% of households had access to waste collection services, with the figure falling to 24.1% in rural villages.

Nationally, 39.8% of households disposed of their rubbish by dumping, burning or burying it.

The consequences have been particularly visible at some of the country's major disposal sites.

At Gamodubu landfill, which receives waste from the Greater Gaborone area, serious fires were reported in 2017 and 2018.

Residents raised further concerns in February 2024 about smoke, flies, stray animals and suspected water pollution.

Similar problems have affected Pilane landfill in Kgatleng, where repeated fires prompted the district council to temporarily close the facility in 2021.

Residents of Pilane, Rasesa, Morwa and Bokaa raised fresh concerns about smoke in 2025.

In February 2026, Local Government Minister Ketlhalefile Motshegwa told Parliament that government planned to close and rehabilitate the site, with a proposed replacement facility at Dikwididi.

Waste collection has also struggled to keep pace with population growth.

In July 2025, Motshegwa told Parliament that rapid expansion and resource constraints had affected collection services in Mogoditshane. Government allocated P14.72 million for outsourced household collection and P9.9 million for waste trucks.

How Zimbabwe Transformed The Pomona Dumpsite

The Zimbabwean model being considered by Botswana centres on the rehabilitation of the Pomona waste-disposal site north of Harare.

The 79-hectare facility operated as an uncontrolled municipal dumpsite for 37 years before Zimbabwe's environmental regulator classified it as an environmental emergency in 2020.

Geo Pomona assumed management of the site in April 2022 under a 30-year arrangement with the City of Harare.

According to the company's October 2026 brief, rehabilitation work has included covering old waste heaps with protective layers, treating contaminated water through reverse osmosis and introducing systems to weigh and record incoming rubbish.

By October 2023, more than 25,000 square metres had reportedly been reclaimed and landscaped.

The site now includes a FIFA-certified football pitch, two tennis courts, two basketball courts and a restaurant. The company says the sports facilities are available free of charge to surrounding communities.

“People used to isolate this place, but now it is a scene of attraction because of the transformation done by Zimbabweans, by local engineers,” said Geo Pomona chief executive and executive chairman Dr Dilesh Nguwaya.

The company says it handled 614,144.47 tonnes of waste between April 2022 and 26 October 2026, including more than 435,000 tonnes removed from illegal dumps.

Its waste-sorting plant, commissioned in June 2025, has a stated processing capacity of 1,080 tonnes a day.

Geo Pomona also reports employing 1,514 people, more than half of whom are women.

More than 1,000 families previously lived at the old dumpsite. Their relocation was handled by the Zimbabwean government, while the company says some former residents have since found employment at the facility.

What Botswana Hopes To Gain

The proposed cooperation could cover improved waste collection, landfill rehabilitation, recycling, the restoration of degraded land and training for local personnel.

Nguwaya said the partnership would combine the two governments' efforts with the company's operational experience.

“By combining the leadership of the Government of Botswana with Geo Pomona’s operational experience, we can strengthen local authorities, develop integrated waste systems, transfer practical expertise and build lasting institutional capacity,” he said at the signing.

The company is also planning a waste-to-energy plant in Zimbabwe designed to process about 1,000 tonnes of waste daily and generate between 16 and 22 megawatts of electricity.

The construction contract was signed in September 2026, but the plant is not yet operational.

A waste-management Centre of Excellence is also being proposed as part of the company's longer-term plans.

Botswana's engagement with Geo Pomona followed a series of visits to the Harare facility by senior government officials.

Boko visited in April 2026, followed by Vice President Ndaba Gaolathe in July and Motshegwa in September.

No Contracts Finalised Yet

Botswana's Acting Permanent Secretary, Tshepo Kebakile, said technical teams would identify potential sites, assess requirements and consider available funding before any contracts were concluded.

Implementation could take place in phases, depending on the findings and resources available.

This means the MoU is an initial step towards possible projects rather than confirmation that Geo Pomona will immediately take over Botswana's landfills.

Nguwaya said the partnership could deliver benefits beyond waste disposal, including cleaner urban areas, stronger institutions and employment opportunities linked to the green economy.

He said the success of the agreement should ultimately be measured by what it delivers to communities rather than the signing ceremony itself.

“Let this MoU be judged not by the signatures we place on paper today, but by the cleaner cities, stronger institutions, new green jobs and healthier communities it delivers,” he said.

For Botswana, the immediate challenge remains improving the management of existing disposal sites and extending reliable waste collection to communities that still lack the service.

Whether the Zimbabwean model can be adapted successfully will depend on the technical assessments, funding arrangements and agreements that follow.