Experts warn of rising lead risks in Africa’s solar energy boom

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Years after a lead acid battery recycling plant shut down in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa, residents of Owino Uhuru say they are still suffering from lead poisoning, a growing public health risk as Africa’s clean energy boom drives a surge in battery use.

Faith Muthama, 40, a mother of four, says her health has never recovered.

“Life has never been the same,” she said, wiping away sweat. “I still struggle to do heavy chores as I suffer from breathing difficulties. When I was tested in 2012, I was found with high lead levels in my blood.”

Experts warn that similar risks have emerged across Africa as the continent adopts more renewable energy. A February report by the Centre for Global Development, an independent think tank based in Washington and London, warned that the rapid expansion of off-grid solar systems and battery storage, seen as critical to closing Africa’s energy access gap, is driving a sharp increase in demand for battery recycling.

Much of that recycling is done in informal or poorly regulated settings.

The contamination in Owino Uhuru dates back to 2007, when Kenya Metal Refineries EPZ, a local subsidiary of a company based in Mumbai, India, operated a lead-acid battery recycling plant within the settlement.

Residents say toxic waste from the plant, which exported processed lead to India, seeped into the soil and water, causing widespread illness. More than 20 deaths have been linked to the pollution. Although the factory was shut down in 2014, the damage lingers.

Lead exposure is linked to neurological damage, reduced cognitive development and long-term health impacts, particularly in children whose brains are still developing.

In 2025, Kenya’s Supreme Court awarded about $12 million in damages to about 3,000 residents after they won a class-action lawsuit against the smelting company, a rare legal victory for victims of industrial pollution. But activists say the state has failed to follow through on timely compensation.

“I am just waiting for help as I have exhausted all my resources treating myself,” said Alfred Ogulo, 70, a village elder, his speech slightly slurred.

At one point, Ogulo said tests showed extremely high lead levels in his blood, leaving him with nerve damage and limited mobility.

“I cannot walk without a stick,” he said. “I also suffer from serious chest pain and coughs from the toxic fumes that we breathed in here when the factory was still in operation.”

Lead-acid batteries are widely used in many low-income markets because they are cheaper than alternatives like lithium-ion batteries. But safely recycling them requires costly infrastructure that is often lacking. So, informal recyclers often use rudimentary methods that can release lead particles into the air, soil and water.

“Off-grid solar could account for a substantial share of batteries entering the recycling stream in Africa,” said Lee Crawford, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Global Development, who reviewed the report. “That’s on top of existing demand from vehicles like cars and motorbikes.”

“Safe recycling is expensive and that creates a strong incentive to do it unsafely,” Crawford said, adding that since banning lead-acid batteries is unfeasible, the solution is to make recycling safer.

Across Africa and South Asia, studies estimate that between one-third and half of children have elevated blood lead levels, making it one of the most widespread environmental global health risks. In many countries, weak enforcement of environmental regulations compounds the problem. While rules often exist, experts say implementation remains inconsistent.

“This is a silent threat,” Crawford said. “It’s often invisible, but it affects health, cognitive development and economic productivity.”

The issue extends beyond small informal workshops. Even larger facilities may lack proper controls, while global supply chains for recycled lead can obscure accountability.

“There needs to be accountability across the entire supply chain,” Crawford said.

Some countries are making progress. South Africa, for example, has introduced producer responsibility systems requiring manufacturers to manage battery recycling, creating a more structured approach. But in many parts of the continent, particularly where batteries are imported rather than produced locally, assigning responsibility remains difficult.

International donors are increasingly supporting lithium-ion technologies, which do not carry the same lead-related risks. But lead-acid batteries are expected to remain widely used for years, particularly in off-grid solar systems.

It's a lived reality for residents of Owino Uhuru.

“It is sad that the state has ignored prioritizing the compensation payment as ordered by the court,” said Phyllis Omido, who leads the Centre for Justice Governance and Environmental Action (CJGEA) based in Mombasa and helped residents take their case to court. “These monies would have alleviated the current suffering these vulnerable residents are going through.”

“Is it fair that we are the ones still chasing justice while the company walks away?” said Mejumaa Hassan Nyanje, 60, as she fought back tears. “Will we all die before justice is served? It feels like we’ve been abandoned, like our lives and our health don’t matter.”

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Mejumaa Hassan Nyanje, a mother of four born in Owino Uhuru village, sits outside her home in Mikindani, Mombasa County, Kenya, on April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kelvin Rading)

A man walks along an alley in Owino Uhuru village, an informal settlement in Mikindani, Mombasa County, Kenya, on April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kelvin Rading)

A woman sits outside her house in Owino Uhuru village in Mikindani, Mombasa County, Kenya, on April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kelvin Rading)

Alfred Ogulo Mulo, a village elder, walks along a street in Mikindani, Mombasa County, Kenya, on April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kelvin Rading)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's supreme leader said Thursday that the Islamic Republic will protect its “nuclear and missile capabilities” as a national asset, likely seeking to draw a hard line as U.S. President Donald Trump seeks a wider deal to cement the shaky ceasefire now holding in the war.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, speaking in a written statement read by a state television anchor as he has since taking over as Iran's supreme leader, struck a defiant tone, insisting the only place Americans belonged in the Persian Gulf is “at the bottom of its waters" and that a “new chapter” was being written in the region's history.

However, his remarks come as Iran's oil industry has begun to be squeezed by a U.S. Navy blockade halting its oil tankers from getting out to sea. Meanwhile, benchmark Brent crude for June delivery reached as much as $126 a barrel in trading on Thursday as Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all crude oil and natural gas traded passes.

All this is putting additional pressure on the world's economy as Trump likely weighs how to respond.

“By God’s help and power, the bright future of the Persian Gulf region will be a future without America, one serving the progress, comfort and prosperity of its people,” Khamenei said in the statement, read like all others since he reportedly was wounded in the Feb. 28 attack that killed his father, the 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“We and our neighbors across the waters of the Persian Gulf and the (Gulf) of Oman share a common destiny. Foreigners who come from thousands of kilometers away to act with greed and malice there have no place in it — except at the bottom of its waters.”

With a fragile ceasefire in place, the U.S. and Iran are locked in a standoff over the strait. The U.S blockade is designed to prevent Iran from selling its oil, depriving it of crucial revenue while also potentially creating a situation where Tehran has to shut off production because it has nowhere to store oil.

The strait’s closure, meanwhile, has put pressure on Trump, as oil and gasoline prices have skyrocketed ahead of crucial midterm elections, and it has pressured his Gulf allies, which use the waterway to export their oil and gas.

A recent Iranian proposal would push negotiations on the country’s nuclear program to a later date. Trump said one of the major reasons he went to war was to deny Iran the ability to develop nuclear weapons. Iran long has maintained its program is peaceful, though it enriched uranium at near-weapons-grade levels of 60%.

Speaking to mark Persian Gulf Day in Iran, Khamenei's remarks signaled that nuclear issues and Iran's ballistic missile program wouldn't be traded away.

“Ninety million proud and honorable Iranians inside and outside the country regard all of Iran’s identity-based, spiritual, human, scientific, industrial and technological capacities — from nanotechnology and biotechnology to nuclear and missile capabilities — as national assets, and will protect them just as they protect the country’s waters, land and airspace,” Khamenei said.

He referred to America as the “Great Satan,” a long hurled insult by Iranian leaders toward the U.S. since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In his remarks, Khamenei seemed to signal Iran would maintain its control over the waterway, which sits in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. Iran had been charging some ships reportedly $2 million apiece to travel through the strait.

“Islamic Iran, by giving practical thanks for the blessing of exercising control over the Strait of Hormuz, will make the Persian Gulf region secure and put an end to the hostile enemy’s abuses of this waterway,” Khamenei said. “The legal rules and new management of the Strait of Hormuz will bring comfort and progress for the benefit of all the region’s nations, and its economic gains will gladden the hearts of the people.”

However, the world considered the strait an international waterway, open to all without paying tolls. Gulf Arab nations, chief among them the United Arab Emirates, have decried Iran's control of the strait as akin to piracy.

Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

A woman holds up pictures of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, left, and his father, the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a state-organised rally celebrating the birthday of Imam Reza, the 8th Shiite Muslims' Imam, and supporting the supreme leader, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman carries an Iranian flag and a poster of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a state-organised rally in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 29, 2026, celebrating the birthday of Imam Reza, the 8th Shiite Muslims' Imam, and supporting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A police officer stands guard in front of a banner with portraits of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, and late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a state-organised rally celebrating the birthday of Imam Reza, the 8th Shiite Muslims' Imam, and supporting the supreme leader, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Girls sing a song as they show the movement of missiles with their hands next to the portraits of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, in a state-organised rally celebrating the birthday of Imam Reza, the 8th Shiite Muslims' Imam, and supporting the supreme leader, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)