Photo: Director-General African Centre for Supply-Chain (ACS), Dr. Obiora Madu presenting to the Executive Chairman of Moov Africa, Mr. Larry Chinekezi, an advance copy of the Nigerian Nigeria Logistics & Supply Chain Industry Report 2017
The event also features Excellence Awards in Supply-chain
Lagos (MLN) – The African Centre for Supply-Chain, the organizers and promoters of the Nigerian Logistics & Supply-Chain Industry Report and Excellence Awards are partnering Moov Africa to raise a global awareness for the 2017 edition.
This was disclosed in Lagos Wednesday when Director General of African Centre for Supply-Chain (ACS), Dr. Obiora Madu, met with the Executive Chairman of Moov Africa, Mr. Larry Chinekezi.
This year’s report presentation and awards will feature a Round Table to find out why Nigeria has relapsed again after a strong outing in Global Trade Logistics Performance in 2014.
From the 121st position to 75th and then a downward slip of 15 positions to 90 in 2016 in the World Bank Logistics Performance Index, Nigeria is now ranked 169 among 190 economies in the ease of doing business, according to the latest World Bank annual ratings.
Speaking when the two organizations met to fashion out ways of bringing the report to the front burner, Dr. Obiora Madu, Director General of ACS said, “Africa needs to invest heavily in transport and logistical infrastructure to facilitate supply-chain efficiency in the continent.”
According to Dr. Obiora, Supply-chain is fast becoming the number one focus for development and economic growth opportunities. And Africa, as a developing continent, offers some of the untapped opportunities globally and is favoured by numerous multi-nationals as they seek virgin markets to break into.
“Indeed Africa has 20% of the world population, but Africa’s contribution to global trade is less than 4%. Perceptions of Africa’s business potential have shifted dramatically in recent years. With its combination of growing population and rising wealth, Africa has a compelling story to tell.
“But as much as Africa carries the potential for economic and social prosperity, it has numerous challenges that still need to be overcome. These challenges related to supply chain infrastructure in itself also holds huge opportunity though, especially for those organizations specializing in construction and related industries.”
Responding, the Executive Chairman of Moov Africa, Mr. Larry Chinekezi, said his organization is committed to encouraging the development of the logistics and supply-chain sub-sector through providing the necessary information the businesses need to influence their decision-making to business better and succeed.
The two experts lamented the dearth of infrastructure in the country which is affecting every step of the value chain.
“Unfortunately even though the government of Nigeria is celebrating a few steps movement in the World Bank’s global “ease of doing business” ranking, the country and indeed majority of countries in Africa sit in the bottom quartile of the report,” Mr. Chinekezi said.
Only one African country—Ghana—is in the top quartile of the World Bank’s global “ease of doing business” ranking. Indeed, corruption in the public sector has robbed logistics and supply-chain sub-sector the opportunity of improved infrastructure needed for it function like in developed nations. From maritime to aviation, railways, road infrastructure to the disappearing energy needed to power other areas, corruption has kept logistics and supply-chain in Africa in limbo. And according to Transparency International, Africa is home to nine of the 20 most corrupt countries in the world.
Mr. Chinekezi observed that faced by global competitiveness challenges, stricter quality and regulatory standards, African enterprises and regulators are getting overwhelmed by the massive amounts of information coming from different suppliers and customers in varying geographic locations.
Raw and often disjointed pieces of information coming from foreign suppliers, partners, and even customers are also often composed of both structured and unstructured data which makes it even more difficult for the unprepared, uninformed African enterprises to consume, analyze, and generate insights from.
The DG of ACS revealed that “To give credence to the programme as a national and regional event, His Excellency, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has been invited as the Special Guest of Honour, while the Honourable Minister of Transportation will present a Key Note Address.”
Follow us on TWITTER for more Logistics News Follow us on FACEBOOK for more Logistics News
The event scheduled for the 7th of December, 2017 at Protea Hotels Isaac John Street GRA Ikeja, Lagos starting from 10.a.m, will feature:
- Supply Chain Roundtable
- Public Presentation of the 2017 Nigerian logistics & Supply Chain Industry Report
- Award to best States
- Experience-Sharing from other African Countries
- Fellowship investiture and Induction of new members.
