The disruption and disjuncture of global logistics networks have had a major impact on African economies, according to Duncan Bonnett, a partner at Africa House.“The disruption to supply chains due to ongoing Covid-19-related lockdowns, particularly in China, as well as the ongoing war in Ukraine, have hit Africa hard,” he said. “Not only has it raised the cost of manufacturing, but many businesses have been disrupted, not being able to manufacture due to the inability to source materials timeously.”Imports into the continent have also been hard hit by supply shortages and price increases in China and Europe. “The ongoing disruption to the supply chain and hampering of manufacturing has caused a lot of frustration for companies who have not been able to deliver projects on time and within budget. Normal trade has become more expensive, with containers destined for Africa having to be rerouted to Europe or North America or even Asia.”Bonnett said the cost factor, in particular, had a negative impact on the continent. “One can easily get away with a 5% increase in cost in Europe, but in Africa that is simply not the case – and many countries can’t afford the increased costs this has resulted in.”He added that many countries on the continent had experienced increases in transportation and commodity costs in general, as well as the undersupply of certain commodities.Many companies had to deal with inventory f luctuations – and higher lead times were just about a given.In these times it has become important to revisit supply bases to identify alternative sources of products – or even to look at multi-sourcing strategies.In Africa, where transport delays are common, companies have had to move away from the just-in-time model to ensure they have stock at all times.
