‘Green’ lobby will create more responsible supply chain

The growing environmental lobby is likely to impact significantly on global decision-making, creating a more responsible supply chain in the decade ahead. Managing director of Safcor Panalpina, Pete Williams, believes this is one of the trends that will play out over the next ten years as the excesses of irresponsible consumerism are shaken out and a more normalised global trade pattern emerges. “A more thoughtful supply chain will replace blind global sourcing as consumers become increasingly aware of carbon footprint,” he told FTW. And this is likely to have implications in terms of China’s ascendancy. “The Chinese cost base will no longer have the huge differential it had five years ago. That gap has now narrowed – and if you look at that in conjunction with the green trend, you may find people becoming more discerning and paying a little more for a product manufactured closer to home.” While the local green lobby has not yet gathered the level of international momentum, South Africa always tends to follow overseas trends and this will be no different. Moving to the continent, Williams is confident that in 10 years Zimbabwe will have turned a corner of significance which will be very good for the region in multi facets. And in terms of supply chain efficiency, he’s excited at recent news of the harmonisation of trade blocs in the SADC region. “Previously the different trade blocs created friction in the supply chain – and whatever creates friction and complexity leads to lower trade. We will see that being eased although it will come with its own set of challenges.” In the medium term, bearing in mind that Africa’s wealth and stability is highly dependent on commodities, the continent will face a fairly tough economic scenario. “The challenge for us as a region is to ensure we have sufficient political stability in those tough times.” From a South African perspective, the investment in infrastructure development across the board is significant. “The challenge is to make sure it manifests itself into deliverables and not just another plan.” For the logistics industry, consolidation will be likely to continue, in Williams’ view. “We’ve seen the mediums being taken over by the bigger mediums and this current economic shakedown is likely to end up with some clean-out at that level.” He expects it to be more likely to see the top ten taking over others in the top ten rather than medium-sized companies consolidating. But there will always be an opportunity for smaller, niche players, in his view. Clearly the next ten years will not be a walk in the park, but Africa is a continent of opportunity of which South Africa is well placed to take good advantage.