Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City in Accra, Ghana, will be the place to be July 29-30 as we launch the inaugural Supply Chain Business Forum and Exhibition. The event will bring together industry experts, business leaders and academic researchers around the theme “Navigating the Future of Supply Chains in Africa.”
The goal of the forum is to enhance supply chain management practices across the continent. More than 150 people already have registered to attend.
The Business Forum will feature prominent African, European and U.S. entrepreneurs and business executives as keynote speakers, panelists and session leaders. The event also will offer time for networking and exploring the exhibition space, where leading companies will showcase their products and services.
Attendees will gain abundant opportunities to learn about and discuss the best supply chain practices throughout Africa and how leading-edge university research can support African businesses.
Program
Among the event’s keynote speakers will be Starbucks executive and native Ghanaian Ruby Amegah. She leads global food product research and development for the world’s largest coffee chain.
Amegah will talk about “The Odyssey of Coffee and Cocoa Beans — From African Soil to Global Cup.” Following her presentation will be a panel discussion on supply chain traceability in the cocoa and coffee sectors.
Nigerian healthcare entrepreneur Dr. Chibuzo Opara will also be a keynote speaker. As co-founder and CEO of DrugStoc, he is focused on eliminating counterfeit and substandard drugs in emerging markets.
A health economist with a clinical background, Opara will talk about “Building Patient-Centered Supply Chains for Health Commodity Security and Resilience.” A panel discussion on supply chain traceability in the health sector will follow his keynote address.
Patricia Poku Diaby, CEO of Plot Enterprise (Gh) Ltd, will be the third keynote speaker. As the only woman in Africa to have established a large-sized cocoa processing facility, she will speak on “Advancing the Cocoa Sector Supply Chain: A Processor’s Perspective.”
In addition, the forum will feature presentations on the Ghana Logistics Managers Index (LMI) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The LMI is a tool CARISCA created in 2022 to support business decision makers. The quarterly index is a predictive indicator of the overall Ghanaian economy.
AfCFTA is an agreement signed in 2019 to create an action plan for boosting intra-African trade. Representatives from the African Union will talk at the Business Forum about the plan’s status.
Rounding out the program will be a session on “Sustaining Supply Chains in Africa: Successes and Challenges.” Andre Kreie from the Kühne Foundation, based in Switzerland, will lead this session. Kreie leads the foundation’s education unit, which addresses capacity building in middle- and low-income countries related to logistics, supply chain management, leadership and strategy.
Supporters
In addition to USAID, which funds CARISCA, corporate sponsors and partners are helping to make this event possible. Conship, or Consolidated Shipping Agencies, is our inaugural gold sponsor. Silver sponsors confirmed to date are Interplast, West Africa’s leading producer of plastic pipe systems, and logistics company M&M air sea cargo GmbH.
Promotional partners for the event include Business and Financial Times and AfCFTA.
Register
To register for the event or learn more about becoming a sponsor or exhibitor, visit cariscabusinessforum.com. Registration is free, but seats are limited.