Phoenix Resource Association — Infrastructure of Opportunity
Infrastructure of Opportunity For partners building Africa’s circular economy

Africa Is Not Short
of Talent. It Is Short
of Pathways.

Infrastructure of Opportunity is the institutional, industrial, and educational infrastructure that converts Africa’s underused human and material capacity into productive economies. Phoenix Resource Association is building it — starting in Walvis Bay.

See the diligence pack → or request a conversation →
The Academy
The Circular Economy Centre
The Innovation Centre
What this is

Infrastructure of Opportunity.

Infrastructure of Opportunity is the institutional, industrial, and educational infrastructure that converts Africa’s underused human and material capacity into productive economies. In Phoenix Resource Association’s model, it takes physical form as Circular Economy Centres — campuses where end-of-life industrial assets are dismantled into commercial value, and where the young people written off by their economies are trained into the skilled workforce those economies need. It is not a programme, a project, or a pilot. It is the layer of institutions, industrial systems, and accredited training that has been missing — the layer above “NEET training”, “TVET initiative”, “youth employment programme”, or “circular economy startup”, each of which is a sub-component, not the whole. When the infrastructure is built, opportunity stops depending on luck or rescue, and becomes a feature the system itself produces at scale.

David Mercer on the flight deck, Royal Navy helicopter pilot
David Mercer, Royal Navy helicopter pilot
About the Founder

David Mercer Founder & Executive Director

Most NEET programmes start with a classroom. Phoenix Resource Association starts with an asset.

Across Southern Africa, two problems share the same geography. Tens of millions of young people are catalogued as NEET — defined, officially, by what they are not. In the same provinces, factories close, industrial sites fall dormant, and capability walks out the gate with the last shift. Conventional development sees two problems. Phoenix Resource Association was built because they are two sides of one.

The Path

An operator's problem, met with operator instincts

I spent seventeen years on Royal Navy flight decks and a decade in airline cockpits, with an Executive MBA from the University of Geneva layered in between. The career is not decoration. Aviation, logistics, and command run on exactly the discipline the NEET conversation has been missing: hard infrastructure, accredited competencies, measurable outcomes, cross-cultural delivery at pace. What has been absent is not compassion for young people. It is an operating system for them.

The scale of the NEET population in Southern Africa is orders of magnitude larger than any single donor-funded skills programme — and it is growing. A structural problem at industrial scale cannot be met with project-scale instruments. It needs infrastructure — the same kind of infrastructure I spent a career running. Phoenix Resource Association is building it by converting end-of-life industrial assets into accredited training sites and the circular enterprises that absorb the graduates.

Every significant opportunity in my career had been created not by the system, but by someone willing to override it. Those young people do not have anyone to override the system on their behalf. That was the moment Phoenix Resource Association became inevitable.

The Conviction

Can you build the infrastructure of opportunity?

I did not set out to build a circular economy organisation. I set out to answer a question: can you build the infrastructure of opportunity — the override — in a way that pays for itself and does not depend on chance?

The answer was the Circular Economy Centre model: connecting end-of-life industrial assets with NEET youth training to create a self-funding, replicable platform that gives both a second life.

Phoenix Resource Association is built on a single conviction: Africa’s young people are not a problem to be managed. They are an asset waiting for a pathway.

The continent is not short of talent. It is short of pathways. Phoenix Resource Association is building them.

David Mercer is Founder and Executive Director of Phoenix Resource Association, a Geneva-based Swiss non-profit building Africa’s first network of Circular Economy Centres for NEET youth across SADC. A former Royal Navy helicopter pilot (17 years) and airline captain, he holds an Executive MBA from the University of Geneva (GSEM). His career spans operational leadership across four continents, with particular depth in aviation, logistics, and cross-cultural team development.
Geneva, Switzerland · david@phoenixresource.org
Leadership

Meet the Board

Chaired by founder David Mercer, the governance team draws on senior experience at Pictet, Boeing, Standard Chartered, the DBSA, the African Development Bank, and Botswana's public service.

KW
Kevin Wainscott
Association Secretary
Governance Administration

Private Equity Real Assets at Pictet Group. Digital Transformation Executive and COO. EMBA (IMD); former airline captain. Certified in Impact Investing, ESG, and AI & Data Analytics.

HE Hakan Ekinci
Hakan Ekinci
Advisor — Finance, Risk & Governance
Audit & Risk Committee Lead

Finance professional with deep expertise in financial controls, audit, risk management and Swiss Verein compliance. Advises on CAPEX/OPEX structures and funder financial due diligence.

IB Israil Bryan
Israil Bryan
NED — Workforce, People & Social Impact
People, Impact & Safeguarding Lead

Senior HR and social impact professional. Corporate experience at Boeing and Standard Chartered. Expertise in ILO Decent Work, DEI frameworks and youth safeguarding.

LT Leo Tony
Leo Tony
Advisor — Aviation & Digital Technology
Technology & Infrastructure Lead

Aviation industry expert covering MRO, airside infrastructure, OEM relationships and aviation-safety compliance. Advises on digital learning systems, VR simulation and CEC campus design.

BL Boineelo Lobelo
Boineelo Lobelo
NED — African ESG & Public-Sector (SADC)
SADC Engagement & ESG Lead

Deputy Executive Director, Botswana Public Service College. 20+ years spanning public service, government ministries and the private sector. Former Deputy Permanent Secretary for Labour and Social Security.

ZM Zakhele Mayisa
Zakhele Mayisa
NED — Fundraising & Development Finance
Fundraising & DFI Committee Lead

Infrastructure finance practitioner. DBSA (9+ years), African Development Bank, New Development Bank, and Nedbank CIB Co-Head of Africa Infrastructure Finance.

Where We Are Now

Phase 0. Building to the first cohort.

Phoenix Resource Association is a Swiss Verein in its inception phase — governance in place, flagship project in regulatory review, funding architecture live. This is where we are in April 2026.

Legal entity
Swiss Verein, Geneva
Registered 20 February 2025 with the Geneva Commercial Register.
Flagship site
Walvis Bay, Namibia
Concept submitted to NIPDB January 2026; NIDA engagement open for SEZ land allocation.
Parallel site
Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana
Country lead: Boineelo Lobelo. Early-stage site development alongside the Namibia flagship.
Next milestone
MoU at AGIS Summit
Targeted signing of PRA–Government of Namibia MoU at the African Green Industries Summit, 9–10 September 2026, Swakopmund.
Signed partner
African Leadership Academy
MoU and Addendum No. 1 signed February 2026 — academic partnership anchor.
Funding position
Founder-funded to date
Layer A operational grant applications in the field; Layer B seed capital (USD 1.5–3M) opens on MoU signing.
Founder succession
By design, not default
Independent Executive Director recruited by end of Year 2. Founder transitions to Non-Executive Founding Chair in Year 3. Independent board majority from Year 3 onwards.
See the full trajectory →
Where We Work

Two Sites. Strategic Geography.

Walvis Bay is Southern Africa’s deep-water gateway — port city, SEZ status, corridors reaching into six countries. Selebi-Phikwe is Botswana’s former copper-nickel hub — industrial legacy, rail access, a workforce that already knows mining and processing. Two sites. One platform.

Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional map showing PRA's two operational sites in Namibia and Botswana.

Two economies, one circular thesis: coastal port logistics on the Atlantic; inland industrial heritage on the Kalahari edge.

One Campus

Co-Located. By Design.

Academy, Circular Economy Centre and Innovation Centre share one plot — a single pedestrian spine connects classroom to workshop to lab. Feedstock arrives on one side; graduates, products and research leave on the other.

ILLUSTRATIVE · PRE-ALLOCATION N MAIN GATE ADMIN · RECEPTION Visitor & security desk plaza 01 · THE ACADEMY Classrooms Theory + seminar Training Workshops Hands-on trade bays Dining · Commons Refectory + gathering Trainee Residences Dormitories · 120 beds Wellness · sports Library · Media Quiet study 03 · INNOVATION CENTRE Materials Lab Polymers · Composites Characterisation Chemistry Lab Process · Analytical Prototype Bay Scale-up workshop Pilot runs Research Offices + library CENTRAL SPINE · PEDESTRIAN + SERVICE 02 · CIRCULAR ECONOMY CENTRE Feedstock Intake Open sorting bays bay 1 bay 2 bay 3 bay 4 Sort & Process Hall Shredding · separation Granulation · extrusion Composite forming Workshops Metal · wood · composite fabrication bays Finished Goods · Dispatch Storage + despatch SOLAR ARRAY Weighbridge + gatehouse HGV GATE in · out road VISITOR + STAFF PARKING FEEDSTOCK IN trainees challenges Academy Innovation Centre Circular Economy Centre Solar / utilities Road / service

Material flows south to north through the Sort & Process Hall; people flow top to bottom as trainees become practitioners. One plot, one cycle.

Illustrative diptych: a passenger airliner on the left and a heavy mining dump truck on the right, representing the two industrial ecosystems where Phoenix Resource Association operates.
Illustrative composite · Aviation (Walvis Bay) · Extractive industry (Selebi-Phikwe)
The Challenge

Two Sides of
One Problem.

Africa is not short of talent. It is short of pathways. More than 60% of Africa's population is under 25 — creative, capable, and largely locked out of formal decent work. At the same time, billions of dollars of end-of-life industrial assets sit idle across the continent, with no infrastructure to recover their value. These are not two separate problems. They are the same problem — and a single self-sustaining model connects them.

The Landscape
Who trains youth today
Scale without specialisation.
Public TVET systems turn out volume; leadership academies graduate future executives; employability platforms match people to jobs that already exist. Each resolves a slice. None is purpose-built against the industries Africa is about to need.
e.g. national TVET colleges · ALA · YALI · Harambee
Who recovers industrial value today
Know-how offshore, capacity fragmented.
Mature aircraft part-out hubs operate in the EU and UK. Informal aggregators move plastics and metals at sub-industrial scale. Multilateral programmes write policy. The operator tier — circular infrastructure at scale inside Africa — is empty.
e.g. EU/UK part-out hubs · informal aggregators · UNIDO programmes
What is missing
An operator that does both.
Purpose-built training embedded inside industrial recovery — in the region where the talent and the feedstock already live. Not a fellowship. Not a recycler. An infrastructure operator.
Where PRA fits
Phoenix Resource Association is that operator.
One campus, two anchor sites, three co-located pillars — Academy, Circular Economy Centre, Innovation Centre. Swiss-registered, African-governed, partner-neutral. Built to carry the infrastructure that converts Africa's underused capacity into productive economies.
The Convergence

Two different failures. One convergent solution — young people trained to reclaim value from waste, building the industries that employ the next generation.

A diagram showing two parallel problems — youth without work on the left, and idle industrial value without recovery on the right — converging into a single Circular Economy Centre that produces three outcomes: reclaimed materials, new industries, and employed people. THE HUMAN SIDE Youth without work Creativity, drive, capacity — locked out of a pathway. THE MATERIAL SIDE Value without recovery Idle industrial assets and unmined waste streams. THE CONVERGENCE Circular Economy Centre RECLAIM materials recovered BUILD industries formed RISE people employed

Not two problems. One pipeline.

The Pattern
"The capacity was always there. He needed almost nothing — a library, a book, some scrap metal — to do something remarkable."

In 2001, a thirteen-year-old boy in Malawi was forced out of school when his family could no longer pay the fees. During a devastating famine, he found his way to the village library, taught himself electrical engineering from a physics textbook, and built a wind turbine from scrap metal that pumped water to his family’s crops. He saved his village.

His name is William Kamkwamba. He went on to Dartmouth College and later founded the Moving Windmills Project. His story has been told in a book and a Netflix film.

But William’s story is not extraordinary because of what he did. It is extraordinary because of what it reveals: Africa is full of young people like William. They are not short of talent or creativity or drive. They are short of a pathway.

Phoenix Resource Association is building that pathway — for thousands of uncounted Williams across SADC.
Young African student studying with a wind turbine model
Near-term milestone

AGIS 2026 — the BD earn-out moment.

The African Green Industries Summit, 9–10 September 2026 in Swakopmund, Namibia, is where PRA converts concept into host-government-endorsed programme. PRA is targeting the Leadership Roundtable track for a Memorandum of Understanding moment, unlocking Layer B seed deployment and DFI conversations at scale.

Hosted by the Government of Namibia Endorsed by the Ministry of Industries, Mines & Energy
African Green Industries Summit mark
African Green
Industries Summit
Sep
9–10
2026
Location
Swakopmund, Namibia
10+ Ministers
600+ Delegates
50+ Speakers
100+ Youth participants
Partners at the table NIPDB · NamPower · Namport · Namibia Green Hydrogen Programme
Summit site — africangreenindustries.com →
Our Answer

Not a Programme. An Ecosystem.

Three interconnected pillars that together form a complete circular economy institution — where youth are trained, hands get dirty, and Africa's hardest recycling challenges are being solved.

Three interconnected pillars — The Academy (PICI), the Circular Economy Centre, and the Innovation Centre — co-located at every site and linked in a single cycle: trainees flow from Academy to industrial practice, industrial challenges flow to research, and research outputs flow back to curriculum. 01 · THE ACADEMY · PICI Where Mindset is Built Dual-strand TVET · ILO-aligned 100–150 trainees per site each year 03 · THE INNOVATION CENTRE Where the Future is Researched Advanced composites · CFRP · GFRP University partnerships · IP development 02 · THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY CENTRE Where Hands Get Dirty Aircraft dismantling · mining equipment AFRA-aligned · primary revenue line TRAINEES to industrial practice CHALLENGES to research CURRICULUM back to teaching CO-LOCATED One campus. Three pillars.

An integrated cycle — not three separate programmes.

01 The Academy — PICI

Where Mindset is Built

The Phoenix Institute for Circular Industries (PICI) is our accredited, ILO-aligned training campus — embedded at every Circular Economy Centre. A dual-strand TVET programme delivers industrial skills alongside circular-economy entrepreneurship, with 100–150 trainees per site each year.

Dual-strand TVET · ILO-aligned · Professional ethics · Safety culture
Young African woman working on aircraft components in an industrial workshop. 02 The Circular Economy Centre

Where Hands Get Dirty

The Circular Economy Centre (CEC) is where PICI trainees work at industrial scale. End-of-life aircraft and mining equipment are dismantled and recycled on site — turning Africa's waste streams into commercial revenue and training into real practice. Dismantling fees are the model's primary revenue line.

Aircraft dismantling · Mining equipment recycling · AFRA-aligned processes · Commercial revenue
A group of African students gathered on grass with laptops, collaborating on work. 03 The Innovation Centre

Where Africa's Future is Researched

Shared with regional university partners, the Innovation Centre develops cost-effective solutions to future material-recycling challenges — including CFRP, GFRP, and advanced composites — at the frontier of circular-economy materials science.

Advanced composites research · University partnerships · IP development · SDG alignment
01 Assets
Reclaim

End-of-life assets and locked-out young people. Both written off. Both holding unrealised value. Phoenix Resource Association reclaims both — in the same place, at the same time.

Reclaim
02 Pathway
Build

The Academy. The Circular Economy Centre. The Innovation Centre. Three pillars. One self-sustaining pathway — built from Africa’s most abundant resources.

Build
03 Phoenix
Rise

The asset finds purpose. The young person finds a pathway. Sustainable industry and social justice — proven to be the same thing.

Rise
The Phoenix Resource Association Graduate

Every graduate leaves carrying four non-negotiable qualities.

F
Formal
Professional norms, workplace accountability, and documentation standards — built in from day one.
D
Decent
Values-driven work that respects human dignity and builds cultures of mutual respect.
S
Safe
A non-negotiable commitment to health, safety, and wellbeing — for themselves and every colleague.
C
Circular
Ideas born in the Academy, put to practice in the CEC, and advanced in the Innovation Centre.
Two young workers in hard hats and workshop clothing high-fiving on the shop floor. Built for Partners
Why Partner With Phoenix Resource Association?

Tangible Value. Measurable Impact.

A partnership with Phoenix Resource Association creates real, auditable value for your organisation while placing you at the centre of Africa's circular economy development. This is not philanthropy — it is strategic positioning at the frontier of the continent's most urgent structural challenge.

01 — Talent Pipeline
Work-Ready Graduates, Built to Your Standard
A pipeline for hard-to-fill technical and safety-critical roles — graduates entering the workforce with formal standards, safety culture, and decent-work norms already built in.
02 — Circular Economy Leadership
Industrial-Scale Circular Economy Credentials
Position your organisation alongside a model that dismantles, recycles, and innovates at industrial scale — at the frontier of Africa's circular economy transition.
03 — ESG & Social Impact
Measurable Social Return on Investment
Partners directly contribute to youth employment, materials innovation, and Africa's sustainable development goals — with reporting structured around SDG-aligned indicators.
04 — Institutional Alignment
A Distinctive Circular-Economy Story
A story that travels: youth exclusion and industrial waste solved in the same facility. Training design is ILO-aligned; the model sits inside the ICAO/AfCAC continental aviation resolution (A42-WP/2111, co-drafted by our founder); African Leadership Academy is a signed academic partner.
How We Partner

Five Ways to Engage

Phoenix Resource Association has designed five distinct partnership types — each with a clear value exchange and a defined role in building circular Africa.

TYPE 01
Feedstock Partner
Provide end-of-life aircraft and mining equipment to process at our Circular Economy Centre. The industrial core of the Phoenix Resource Association model runs on your equipment retirement strategy.
TYPE 02
Standards & Accreditation
Provide technical validation, safety protocols, curriculum quality assurance, and regulatory credibility. These relationships don't provide funding — they provide legitimacy that unlocks everything else.
TYPE 03
Academic Partner
Support curriculum development, research collaboration, student articulation, and academic accreditation pathways. Strengthen Phoenix Resource Association's credibility with funders and host governments.
TYPE 04
Technology & Equipment
Provide LMS platforms, digital learning tools, hardware donations, and campus connectivity to power the Innovation Centre and Academy's operational infrastructure.
TYPE 05
Funder / Investor
Philanthropic funders, foundations, and development finance institutions partnering across the three-layer funding architecture: operational grants (Layer A), seed capital (Layer B), and site-level development finance (Layer C).
How It's Financed

Three Layers. One Staircase.

Each layer de-risks the next. Operational grants keep the organisation moving now; seed capital launches the first cohort on MoU signing; site-level development finance builds the Circular Economy Centre itself.

UNLOCKED BY THE LAYER USE OF FUNDS SITE SECURED + anchor offtake commitments LAYER C Site-Level Development Finance DFIs · Blended-finance facilities · Green bonds USD 20-50M+ BUILD CEC infrastructure Plant, land, capex GOV-NAM MoU signed at AGIS September 2026 LAYER B Seed Capital Impact investors · Climate funds · Catalytic capital USD 1.5-3M LAUNCH First cohort intake Year-1 opex & kit LIVE NOW Applications in the field LAYER A Operational Grants Foundations · Bilateral aid · Philanthropic trusts USD 150-400K RUN Governance, diligence Core team & travel FOUNDER-FUNDED TO DATE

Each layer de-risks the next. Grants prove the thesis; seed capital launches it; development finance scales it.

Unit Economics

An economic model, not a subsidy line.

The Circular Economy Centre is built to produce revenue and cover its own operating costs by year five. Grants fund the mission layer; the operating business pays for itself.

Year 5 revenue
USD 3.9M
At steady-state operations, first Walvis Bay campus
Year 5 EBITDA margin
~26%
Operating margin after staff, feedstock handling, utilities
Phase 0 to launch
USD 1.54–1.63M
24-month capital-to-operate, 12 FTE team, independently staffed

Source: Benchmarking PRA v2 (Mar 2026) · Phase 0 Staffing Plan v2 · CEC OPEX v3

Diligence Pack

The paperwork, already built.

PRA operates as a funder-ready institution, not a concept note. The documents below are assembled and current. Qualified partners conducting diligence can request access — we share under mutual NDA.

Governance
  • Governance Charter v3
  • Statutes v2 (Swiss Verein, Geneva)
  • Conflict of Interest Policy v1
  • Safeguarding Policy v1
  • Risk Register v1 (29 risks scored)
  • Data Protection Policy v1 (Swiss nFADP + GDPR)
  • Founder Role Description v1 (Apr 2026)
  • Founder Trajectory Visual (Apr 2026)
Financial
  • Annual Budget FY2026
  • CEC OPEX v3 (USD 3.7M / 5 yr)
  • WB-CEC CAPEX v1 (USD 54.5M)
  • CAPEX Sensitivity Analysis
  • Benchmarking PRA v2
Strategy & MEL
  • Theory of Change v1 (5-stage causal chain)
  • MEL Framework PoC v1 (~21 indicators)
  • Phase 0 Staffing Plan v2 (12 FTE / 24 mo)
  • Funding Architecture v1
Partnership
  • Signed ALA MoU + Addendum (Feb 2026)
  • AGIS Engagement Plan v1 (21-week roadmap)
  • PICI Master Reference v1
  • NIPDB Re-engagement Package (Apr 2026)
Namibia concept
  • Namibia Concept Note (Mar 2026)
  • Walvis Bay site analysis
  • NDP6 alignment memo
  • AfCAC / NCAA pathway note

A confidential leadership pipeline and succession map is maintained at board level — shareable under NDA once mutual interest is established.

Request the Diligence Pack →
Shared under mutual NDA, within 3 working days of request verification.
Our Commitment

Building on the Right Foundations

From day one, our operations, values, and strategy are being shaped by the four principle areas of the United Nations Global Compact — human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption. Formal accreditation follows two years of operational activity; the work that qualifies for it is already underway.

01
Human Rights
Upholding and supporting internationally proclaimed human rights in all Phoenix Resource Association operations and partnerships.
02
Labour Standards
Freedom of association, elimination of forced and child labour, and freedom from discrimination — embedded in every programme.
03
Environment
A precautionary approach to environmental challenges and active promotion of environmental responsibility at industrial scale.
04
Anti-Corruption
Working against corruption in all its forms — including extortion and bribery — across every aspect of our governance and operations.
"At Phoenix Resource Association, we believe the foundations you build on determine everything that follows.

From day one, we are aligning our operations, values, and strategy with the principles of the UN Global Compact — the most widely adopted corporate sustainability initiative in the world.

Every decision we make, every partnership we build, every programme we deliver is being shaped by the UNGC's principles across human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption.

When accreditation comes, it will not mark a change in direction. It will simply confirm what has always been true of Phoenix Resource.

This is our cornerstone. This is how we build."
Phoenix Resource Association — UNGC Position Statement
Sustainable Development Goals

Our SDG Alignment

Phoenix Resource Association's model is directly structured around seven UN Sustainable Development Goals — not as a reporting exercise, but as a design principle.

SDG 4 – Quality Education
The Academy delivers vocational education built around a formal, decent & safe work mindset.
SDG 8 – Decent Work & Economic Growth
Every Phoenix Resource Association graduate is employment-ready — trained to the standards formal economies demand.
SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
The Innovation Centre drives material recycling research for advanced composites at industrial scale.
SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities
Access to decent work for youth presently locked out of the formal economy — regardless of background.
SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production
Every Circular Economy Centre is designed around recovery of value from end-of-life industrial assets — the heart of SDG 12.
SDG 13 – Climate Action
Material recovery displaces virgin extraction — reducing embodied carbon across Africa’s industrial base.
SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals
Blended finance, feedstock supply, and standards accreditation — our model is built on partnership by design.
Get In Touch

Let’s build what comes next.

Phoenix Resource Association is actively engaging partners across five types — feedstock, standards, academic, technology, and funding. If your organisation sees a role in what we are building, the quickest way in is a direct conversation.

Your data is processed on the lawful basis of consent (Swiss nFADP art. 5(6) / GDPR art. 6(1)(a)). You can withdraw consent or exercise your data rights at any time by contacting david@phoenixresource.org.
Or email david@phoenixresource.org