Supply Chain Management in Africa

What would happen if Africa’s supply chain could be compared to that of Germany- the number one ranked supply chain efficient country in the world?

That would most probably mean that Africa’s logistics challenges are fixed and streamlined; infrastructure is built and optimised, citizens are upskilled and technology is implemented and developed to compete and integrate with world class supply chain systems.

In the first quarter of 2014 the World Bank released its bi-annual logistics performance index which scored 160 countries across the globe by assessing them against certain logistics measurables.

South Africa was ranked at number 34 which reflects the country’s commitment to logistics innovation and development. European countries were the most prominent in the top 10 and top 20 owing to the degree of development and world-class technologies utilised in these countries.

So what makes a country reach the top of the rank in the logistics performance index? Innovation, Integration, Visibility and Automation.

African Possibilities

Africa has a lot of potential but also a lot of challenges. The number one challenge is infrastructure. But as we already know a lot about the challenges hosted in the continent we need to consider the solutions and opportunities. We also need to look at the companies, industry bodies and innovators that are creating an array of opportunities for African development and supply chain resilience.

Sapics 2014 focused on supply chain resilience in the African region and brought all logistics industry stakeholders together to show what they are currently working on, how they see resilience realising in the African region and how this can be supported.

All of these stakeholders are working towards the same goal: improving supply chains across Africa by integrating, collaborating, optimising and enhancing technologies, skills and logistics infrastructure