Celebrating Close the Gap Nairobi

New here? Meet Close the Gap

Close the Gap is a social enterprise that gives end-of-use IT a high-quality second life. They refurbish and redeploy corporate devices to schools, clinics, and community organisations, so they have the tools to learn, work, and grow.

Circular IT group mobilises those devices (or their residual value) from enterprise customers, manages secure collection and certified data erasure, and provides audit-ready erasure and chain-of-custody certificates.

As a result, customers achieve verified ESG outcomes and, where permitted, tax advantages on their donations. The devices or residual value are transferred to Close the Gap, which redeploys them through their ITAD facilities, like the new Nairobi Upcycling Facility, to lengthen lifecycles and broaden digital inclusion.

So…why Nairobi, and why now?

The Nairobi Upcycling Facility localises this entire loop in Kenya. With circular hubs in Nairobi and along the coast, Close the Gap shortens supply chains and serves East Africa faster. Refurb, assembly, and skills training now sit closer to the end user, which means quicker redeployment, local jobs, and stronger inclusion outcomes, right where they matter most.

When technology circulates, communities accelerate. Nairobi is where that acceleration becomes visible: safe data handling, quality refurbishment, and a clear path from “decommissioned” to “deployed.”

Chapter 1: On the ground where circularity happens

The team kicked off the visit with a powerful crash course from H.E. Peter Maddens (the Belgian Ambassador to Kenya) on Kenya, covering the country’s economy, politics, and IT opportunities.

With that context fresh in mind, they visited two long-time partners who turn circular ICT from theory into practice: CFSK (Computers for Schools Kenya) and the WEEE Centre.

Their fantastic guides Joyce, Diana, Catherine, and Joseph walked the team through their state-of-the-art e-waste processes and saw Kenya’s balanced model at work, safe, healthy manual dismantling by trained professionals; materials reintegrated into local value chains; and hazardous or complex fractions exported to global industrial leaders, like  Umicore in Belgium. It was a shining example of the circular economy in action.

Time spent with long-time allies, like CFSK, reinforced how circular practice connects directly to classrooms, careers, and communities.

It also allows us to envision the huge additional impact we could make if we can recover more devices for reuse, ideally not only in Europe but also in countries like Kenya.

Chapter 2: An evening of momentum

The visit culminated in an inspiring evening at the Dutch Residence of Ambassador Henk Jan Bakker, where nearly 100 leaders from the Dutch business community in Kenya gathered alongside Belgian and Kenyan partners.

The event was to celebrate the launch and activate the ecosystem around the new Nairobi Upcycling Facility.

The night aligned embassies, business clubs, and on-the-ground operators, showing the full loop from secure ITAD to refurbishment and redeployment; and converting interest into concrete commitments such as device donations, funding, and policy support. With the right people in the same room, the message was unmistakable: Kenya is ready to scale circular IT, and the partners are in place to make it happen.

It was a powerful moment of shared vision, collaboration, and impact.

Olivier N. (Baron) Vanden Eynde, Founding Partner and Executive Director at Close the Gap Kenya put it plainly:

“When technology circulates, businesses and communities accelerate. In that room, circular ICT wasn’t presented as a nice-to-have CSR project; it was positioned as a strategy. Secure disposition, value recovery, and responsible downstreams that align with compliance and Scope 3 goals. And across the ecosystem, these practices already help recycle hundreds of thousands of devices each year, giving them a second life while reducing e-waste and widening digital inclusion.”

For Circular IT group, the evening accelerated the pipeline and trust. We left with new conversations about end-of-use device streams and residual value, clearer pathways to multi-year agreements, and stronger third-party validation that supports compliance, auditing, and ESG reporting.

The diplomatic and business networks present help unlock practical enablers, faster local execution on logistics and permitting. Most importantly, we deepened ties with the local talent and refurbishment ecosystem, laying the groundwork for shared standards and skills that keep devices in use longer.

Chapter 3: Final celebration

As is tradition for Close the Gap Kenya’s guests, the team closed the week on the coast, time on the Indian Ocean and a quiet evening on Mombasa Creek. Sailing aboard a traditional dhow offered a moment to step back together: partners, practitioners, and clients reflecting on why this work matters and what it will take to keep devices in use longer.

Beyond aligning on device-donation pipelines, compliance and reporting, and skills-to-jobs pathways, these sessions clarified how we’ll support Close the Gap to scale the Nairobi Upcycling Facility with  faster intake, auditable data erasure, reliable refurb, assembly, and measured social impact.

We leave Mombasa with stronger relationships and clear next steps: converting interest into device streams and multi-year agreements, coordinating training cohorts for refurb talent, and locking the processes that turn decommissioned IT into second lives, from across the globe to Nairobi classrooms, clinics, and social enterprises across East Africa.