The first 500 copies of a book titled: “An executive compendium of supply chain management terms”, written by South Africa-based Ghanaian, Professor Douglas Boateng has been handed over to the UNISA Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) in South Africa.

The book, published in partnership with Sasol, a petrochemical company and one of South Africa‘s largest investors in capital projects, skills development and research, is on executive supply chain management.

The book comes after research by Prof Boateng since 2009 on the development of the role of supply chain management as well as the supply chain manager in organisations. Sasol has partnered with Professor Douglas Boateng of the Unisa Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) and the PanAvest Partnership to publish a series of books on executive supply chain management aimed at developing sorely needed supply chain skills in Africa.

The gesture by the company is to create awareness of the needed executive skills to support South Africa’s 2030 industrialization plan, the company’s official website has announced.

Over 7,000 copies of the first book in the executive insight are being distributed at no charge to the continent’s supply chain fraternity, selected government departments, management and business schools since last September.

“The books will increase executive awareness of the inextricable link between supply chain management and South Africa, and the rest of the continent’s long term industrialisation, job creation and government service delivery quality efforts,” says Prof Boateng, Founder and CEO of the PanAvest Partnership, a vertical specific human capital development organization.

“We value Sasol’s support for this project as it will assist with executive skills development as well as driving awareness of the strategic importance of effective supply chain management,” says Boateng, noting “Without world-class executive professional skills, coupled with a coherent and long-term Supply Chain Management strategy, South Africa won’t be able to achieve its 2030 vision.”

Prof. Boateng also hoped Africa can benefit from the use of supply chain management as the developed world has successfully used Supply Chain Management to industrialise, improve government service delivery quality, create sustainable jobs and undertake value addition to their resources and to promote SMME growth.

“I believe that with long-term collective supply chain thinking, Africa can do the same,” Prof. Boateng noted.

Referring to statistics released by the Department of Trade and Industry in South Africa, Prof. Boateng, the first Professor Extraordinary in Supply and Value Chain Management at the SBL expressed the hope that inclusive Afro-centric supply chain strategies and innovative partnerships between the public and private sector can go a long way to address these issues premised on the fact that 70% of small businesses fail within the first year.

“We need to protect these small businesses to stem our soaring unemployment rates”, he said. Prof. Boateng, the globally acclaimed Ghanaian Supply chain expert and Founder of the PanAvest Partnership, also said while speaking at the second public lecture in the Executive Insights into supply chain management series at the SBL last month that that supply chain management was moving from the backroom to the boardroom.

Dr. Renosi Mokate, Executive Director and CEO of SBL, said the institution was pleased to be the first on the continent to be receiving the books and assured that SBL will continue to collaborate to develop professional supply chain management skills in both the public and private sector.

“Improved skills at executive level are vital to foster positive socio-economic change in Africa and that effective Supply Chain Management is a key component of the future industrialisation of South Africa, as well as the rest of the African continent,” Dr. Mokate noted.

Dr. Mokate commended Prof Boateng for his active participation in the field of supply chain management.Meanwhile, Prof. Boateng has indicated in an electronic mail to The Chronicle that business schools in Ghana would get copies of the book: “An executive compendium of supply chain management terms” through the Public Procurement Authority (PPA).