When Global Ventures of North America, GVNA, decided who would steer its flagship waste-to-energy push in Central Africa. The US infrastructure firm bypassed a foreign executive and appointed Cameroonian Emmanuel Ntoko as African Director. The move places a Cameroonian at the helm of the planned Bamenda II Waste-to-Energy Project, a multi-phase, multi-hundred-million-dollar initiative designed to convert the city’s municipal and industrial waste into electricity, fuel products and recyclable materials instead of leaving it to smolder in open dumps.
GVNA Founder and CEO Steven Williams said the choice was deliberate. “Africa’s future must be led by Africans who understand the people, the culture, and the realities on the ground,” he said in an interview outlining the project. “Cameroon is not simply a market to GVNA, but it is a long-term strategic partner. Emmanuel Ntoko represents the type of leadership we believe is necessary to build transformational projects across the continent.” Williams pointed to Ntoko’s grasp of regional dynamics, stakeholder engagement and operational coordination, but also to what he described as integrity, commitment and a demonstrated passion for sustainable development in Cameroon and across Africa.
The appointment signals a new phase for Bamenda II, which GVNA calls one of its flagship initiatives in Africa. The project is structured to attack several problems at once. Piles of unmanaged waste and illegal roadside burning that choke neighborhoods with smoke, energy shortfalls that disrupt clinics, cold stores and small manufacturers, and youth unemployment that keeps pressure on the local labor market. GVNA’s waste-to-energy model would use advanced processing technologies to extract energy from trash before disposal, reducing landfill demand while feeding renewable power into Bamenda’s grid. Williams described waste not as a liability but as an economic and energy resource capable of supporting cleaner cities and stronger systems.
For GVNA, Cameroon is more than a pilot. The firm views it as a “gateway to Central Africa” and the base for a model it hopes to replicate in East, West and Southern Africa once Bamenda proves viable. The country’s human capital, geographic position and what Williams called governmental interest in public-private partnerships made it the logical starting point. Success here, he said, would create a template other African cities could adapt where waste and energy pressures overlap.
Ntoko’s mandate reflects how political and social that work will be. GVNA said he will oversee government and stakeholder engagement, local operational coordination, community relations, strategic partnerships, project development, compliance and local business development. On Short-term, his targets are stakeholder alignment, partnership development, operational readiness and community engagement while upon Long-term, he is expected to deliver project implementation, sustain operations, support regional expansion and build durable ties between local institutions and investors.
Williams framed Ntoko’s advantage as the ability to balance community interests, government coordination and private-sector execution while keeping sight of the larger vision.
GVNA is pursuing the project through phased steps that include feasibility studies, engineering assessments, environmental approvals and financial close before construction begins, all aligned with Cameroonian regulatory timelines. If those milestones hold, Williams expects measurable outcomes such as, a significant reduction in unmanaged waste, new renewable generation capacity, improved sanitation and environmental conditions, and a modernized waste ecosystem that could attract further foreign investment. On jobs, the firm anticipates hundreds of direct construction roles and permanent operational positions once the facility is active, with additional indirect work in waste collection, transport, maintenance, logistics, security and local supply chains.
Local benefit is an integral part within the plan as GVNA seeks to prioritize Cameroonian hiring, skills training as well as youth and technical workforce development, alongside contracts for local contractors and suppliers. “We do not believe sustainable infrastructure projects should operate independently from the communities they serve,” Williams said. He added that sustainable development must deliver returns inside the neighborhoods where infrastructure is built.
GVNA described early engagement with Cameroonian authorities as constructive and forward-looking, and listed regulatory clarity, efficient permitting, infrastructure coordination and long-term policy stability as critical support areas. Williams argued that public-private collaboration is essential because governments cannot shoulder every infrastructure burden alone and private firms need institutional backing to operate at scale. For Ntoko, that means translating GVNA’s capital and technology into a Cameroonian context, managing community expectations, aligning councils and ministries, and keeping investors confident through each phase.
The company acknowledges the known obstacles facing waste-to-energy in Africa being access to long-term financing, regulatory complexity, infrastructure gaps, public awareness and technical capacity. Its response, Williams said, will rest on transparency, stakeholder collaboration and responsible structuring with financial and engineering partners to build public trust around environmental, economic and social benefits.
Looking 3 years ahead, Williams sketched success as operational facilities in Bamenda, thousands of jobs created or sustained, cleaner neighborhoods, expanded renewable capacity and a replicable model that reframes how African cities treat waste. “Instead of viewing waste as a crisis, cities could begin viewing it as a resource capable of generating energy, creating jobs, improving public health, and stimulating industrial growth,” he said. “Most importantly, success would mean proving that African-led and globally supported partnerships can deliver world-class infrastructure solutions.”
GVNA said project development is already underway through stakeholder engagement and planning. Residents should expect more visible activity as engineering preparation and infrastructure work ramp up with permits and approvals. For a city accustomed to smoke from dumps and darkness at night, the bet now is that the same trash behind both can become, under Ntoko’s coordination, the reason the lights stay on.
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