Lead Council Member of the Chartered Institute of Supply Chain Management-Ghana (CISCM), Richard Asante-Amoah, has raised concerns about the need for policymakers to embrace integrated supply chains and introduce a Legislative Instrument (LI) to sanitise the sector.

According to him, having an LI that guards the sector’s operation would be of more benefit than having just one aspect of supply chain management regulated.

Mr. Asante-Amoah noted that supply chain management encompasses a lot, therefore having one part regulated without considering the general sector leaves room for waste.

He made this comment during a presentation on behalf of Founder and Executive Chairman-McDan Group of Companies, Daniel McKorley, on the theme ‘Challenges and Key Success Factors in Ghana’s Logistic Sector’ at the 2023 supply chain research summit organised by the Centre for Applied Research and Innovation in Supply Chain-Africa (CARISCA).

While calling on policymakers to ensure theof the legislative instrument’s introduction, he also called on stakeholders to add their voice and ensure the sector is sanitised to avoid some challenges facing the sector.

He explained that: “Procurement is not a supply chain; procurement is a micro-aspect within the supply chain. So, if you have a law to sanitise it and you do not have a law to sanitise planning, logistics, clearing and forwarding, which are ancillary services, by the time you realise one aspect is polished other aspects would have been neglected”.

Supply Chain Research Summit

CARISCA’s third annual Supply Chain Research Summit is a premier event to help achieve the vision of transforming supply networks across Africa. The conference gathered nearly 90 supply chain students, scholars, practitioners and policymakers to partake and contribute.

Director for CARISCA, Nathaniel Boso, interacting with the media noted that this year’s focus of the conference is to ensure necessary skills needed for young ones pursuing the supply chain sector are provided to equip them to meet global demand.

Dr. Boso added that there has been a massive change in the Africa supply chain, and there is a need for practitioners to discuss the way forward and adopt it to meet current demand.

He called on African leaders to, as a matter of urgency, address the huge challenges at various borders which are likely to impede the Africa Continental Free Trade Area’s (AfCFTA) success.

The Executive Director for CARISCA, Dale S. Rogers, believes Africa could be the world’s manufacturing plant in the near-future with its high youthful population if structures can be put in place. He added that there are a lot of multinational firms looking for new markets, but more importantly new sources of supply – and Africa could meet that demand.

The Centre for Applied Research and Innovation in Supply Chain-Africa (CARISCA) is a partnership between Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and Arizona State University (ASU) in the United States, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).