John Karani is Secretary General of the African Supply Chain Confederation (ASCON)
Johannesburg 29 July 2026 The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement has created the world’s largest free trade area, digital technologies are enabling strategic decision making, and Africa is the next powerhouse.
Yet none of these opportunities will be realised without supply chains capable of supporting them and that requires professional leadership that matches the scale of the opportunity. There is, without a doubt, a case to be made for the supply chain to be a strategic function rather than a back-office cost centre – a creator of value for companies and countries that can drive immense socio-economic benefits through efficiencies and revenue.
A well-run logistics centre enables better planning when it comes to route to market, as well as streamlined insourcing, especially when events that can be described as catastrophes – such as the war in the Middle East – hit.
However, Africa’s progress when it comes to professionalising this role has been constrained by fragmented standards, limited cross-border collaboration, and a professional community that has largely operated within national boundaries.
Continental value chains
The AfCFTA agreement provides us with the perfect opportunity to drive change towards a standardised and professionalised unit that can make a real difference. Its core objectives of a single liberalised market, increased intra-African trade, and enhanced competitiveness depend entirely on seamless cross-border logistics, harmonised procurement standards, and integrated regional value chains. Supply chain professionals are central to this agenda.
AfCFTA is more than a trade agreement. It is a framework for building continental value chains, allowing businesses to source inputs, manufacture products and distribute goods across multiple African markets more efficiently.
For that vision to succeed, supply chains must be designed to operate across borders rather than within them, with common standards, trusted partnerships and the professional expertise needed to manage increasingly complex regional networks.
Looking ahead
Realising AfCFTA’s potential also requires moving beyond trade facilitation to beneficiation through adding value to raw materials before they leave the continent rather than exporting commodities and importing finished goods.
Supply chain professionals with the right strategic competencies are well placed to drive this shift, developing resilient, localised sourcing networks that catalyse domestic manufacturing and support job creation.
What makes this a reality is the establishment of standardised logistical frameworks that eliminate non-tariff barriers. These bureaucratic and regulatory obstacles have long prevented the theoretical free trade area from becoming a functional reality.
The technology imperative
This opportunity comes amid a period of rapid technological change. Artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, digital procurement, business intelligence and supply chain visibility tools are changing how we operate and reshaping what competent supply chain management looks like in practice.
These tools make it possible to interpret predictive analytics, advise boards on geopolitical risk, and manage supplier relationships across multiple jurisdictions, often simultaneously. This is necessary to ensure the continued smooth functioning of logistics networks that keep products moving in and out of countries – the heartbeat of any economy.
This is exactly what we seek to address, standards and further professionalisation, at the 2026 African Supply Chain Confederation (ASCON) Conference to be held from 23 to 25 September 2026 in Livingstone, Zambia. More than 400 supply chain leaders, policymakers, executives and professionals will meet to navigate the theme “Africa Rising: Converting Strength into Global Supply Chain Impact”.
Ambition into action
Through doing so, and with insight from more than 40 speakers who will address three sub-themes: Industrialisation and Transformation, Technology and Innovation, and Breaking Trade Barriers through AfCFTA and regional integration, we can devise solutions to improve our sector as well as strategise how best to take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead. We believe that it is vital that as many people as possible attend so we can draw solutions from a wide range of sectors, specialisations, and stakeholders.
The conference also coincides with the tri-convergence of the African Commerce Convergence Summit, a collaborative platform bringing together supply chain, marketing and ICT, reflecting recognition that Africa’s economic transformation will require these disciplines to work in concert. It is ASCON’s first continental assembly, hosted in partnership with the Zambia Institute of Purchasing and Supply, and brings together a confederation that now spans 11 member countries across the continent.
Africa has all the ingredients needed to become a globally competitive supply chain powerhouse. Unlocking that potential will require stronger collaboration between industry, policymakers and professional bodies, turning ambition into action through partnerships that accelerate trade, strengthen regional value chains and position the continent as a key player in global commerce.
That is our strategic intention – moving beyond the narrow expertise of the back office to our rightful place as drivers of socio-economic growth, facilitators of efficiencies, and guardians of the logistics networks that ensure goods are moved efficiently from one place to another.
