Financing municipal solid waste management in Africa: The critical role of generalized trust

Access to waste services and collection of municipal solid waste (MSW) is critical for social and environmental sustainability, but the efficiency of waste management is constrained by finance and public trust, particularly in developing countries. This study explores the mechanisms that drive efficiency in MSW management in 40 African countries in the case of volume of waste collected and 14 countries in the case of access to waste service between 2004 and 2020. The result from a two-level mixed model suggests that policies that enhance green financing will increase both access to waste services and the quantity of waste collected. Also, the moderation effect of trust is strongest when the amount of green finance for solid waste management is low and becomes weaker as green finance increases. To put this in context, for sample cases with a lower-than-average level of trust, a one-unit increase in green finance is associated with a strong and significant increase of 5.301 units in access to waste services. In addition, quantile regression analysis confirms this positive association between green finance and MSW management and reveals that this effect is heterogeneous, being strongest in nations with low to medium initial waste management performance. The findings demonstrate that while green finance is crucial, its efficacy is critically dependent on generalized trust to enhance access to MSW services.