Abstract

This review examines the current status of waste agricultural residue (WAR) resources for biofuel production within the African context. Africa's energy demand is still largely met by fossil fuels, which are rapidly depleting. This depletion, coupled with rising energy consumption across the continent, poses a significant threat to future energy security. Furthermore, the extensive reliance on fossil fuels has resulted in serious environmental challenges, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable alternative energy sources such as biofuels. Waste agricultural residues have widely been identified as abundant, sustainable and promising feedstocks for biofuel production. However, the large-scale implementation of WAR-based biofuel systems across Africa remains constrained by a limited understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT). To address this gap, this review presents a comprehensive SWOT analysis alongside a specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) roadmap to guide the development of viable continental WAR- based biofuel production. In addition, the review assesses WAR resources across Africa's major economies and evaluates key conversion pathways, including bioethanol, biogas, biomethane and biohydrogen production. Finally, it discusses the feasibility of sustainable WAR-based biofuel production in Africa and demonstrates its potential contribution to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).