Time is running out to enter the 2025 Africa Supply Chain Excellence Awards. The organisers urge businesses and individuals working in the supply chain management field to submit their entries before the closing date of 17 April 2025, to showcase their achievements and help to raise the standards of supply chain management across the continent.

These prestigious awards, which are now in their fourth successful year, aim to elevate and advance supply chain management in Africa. While recognising and celebrating innovation, resilience and excellence in the supply chain industry, they also enable collaboration, industry benchmarking, the sharing of knowledge and best practices to drive supply chain excellence and Africa’s economic growth. “Entrants are not merely competing, they are helping to shape the future of supply chain management in Africa,” says Liesl de Wet, a director of the awards. “There is growing recognition of the key role that supply chains play in business success and economic growth,” she states.

A distinguished panel of judges has been appointed for the 2025 Africa Supply Chain Excellence Awards. Garry Marshall, chair of the judging panel, says that the awards benefit businesses, staff, clients and all role players in an organisation’s supply chain. “A company making headway in Africa's increasingly innovative and competitive logistics environment will benefit immensely from submitting an entry to the Africa Supply Chain Excellence Awards,” he asserts. “The fulfilment of seeing the initiative achieve recognition from distinguished subject experts will delight and motivate staff, clients and other stakeholders in the logistics network."

This year’s Africa Supply Chain Excellence Awards feature 12 important categories that businesses and individuals can enter. These categories are:

• Demand Planning and Management
• Humanitarian and Health Supply Chain Management
• Innovation and Change Management
• International Trade
• Inventory, Warehousing and Distribution Management
• Manufacturing and Production Management
• Preservation of the Environment
• Procurement and Supply Chain Management
• Supply Chain Co-ordination and Collaboration
• Talent Management
• Technology Information Systems and Related Fields
• Transport (all modes & intermodal)

Since their inception in 2022, the Africa Supply Chain Excellence Awards have become a key event on the industry’s calendar. “Looking back at the successes of the last few years, the numbers speak for themselves,” De Wet says. “Over 200 nominations were received from across the continent. The participation from 48 African countries reflects the diversity and innovation driving Africa's supply chain sector. A total of 90 winners were recognised for excellence, from sustainability initiatives to digital transformation in supply chains and more.”

The principal sponsor of the 2025 Africa Supply Chain Excellence Awards is Forte Supply Chain Solutions with category sponsorship from the Road Freight Association and support sponsorship from BidAir Cargo and Supply Chain Now. This year’s event partners are Logis-T Africa, the Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics (CILT), the Road Freight Association (RFA), supply chain industry body SAPICS, the Southern African Institute for Industrial Engineering (SAIIE), South African Express Parcel Association (SAEPA), Smart Procurement World, SupplyChainFirst.com and the Transport Forum.

This year’s event will culminate in a gala dinner in Johannesburg in August 2025.