The 2022 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index has revealed that leading African economies are performing better against other emerging markets. This has been seen even in areas that measure their digital skills and sustainability.
In Africa, Kenya currently ranks position 28 in the overall Index but is 17th in digital readiness. South Africa, is 24th overall and 21st in digital readiness. Likewise, Ghana is 32nd overall and 23rd in digital readiness.
The Index, now in its 13th year, ranks countries for overall competitiveness based on their logistics strengths, business climates and their digital readiness. These are all factors that make them attractive to logistics providers, freight forwarders, air and ocean carriers, distributors and investors. The Index also includes a survey of 756 supply chain industry professionals.
Digital readiness assesses digital skills, training, Internet access, e-commerce growth, investment climate, and ability to nurture startups. Readiness also includes sustainability factors such as renewable energy mix, lower emissions intensity and green initiatives.
In addition to performing relatively well in digital readiness, Ghana improved its yearly rankings in international logistics infrastructure to 37th from 45th. Likewise, domestic logistics infrastructure improved to 36th from 38th, and business fundamentals to 28th from 32nd.
Speaking at the release of the index results, Agility CEO Tarek Sultan said, “The connection between a country’s digital capabilities and growth prospects is undeniable. The competitiveness of emerging markets countries will be determined by their ability to develop digitally skilled businesses and talent pools, and find the resolve to lower their emissions in ways that spur growth rather than sacrificing it.”
Roughly 75% of the 756 industry professionals surveyed for the Index believe shippers will see cargo rates come down by the end of the year. 80% see port bottlenecks, air capacity shortages and trucking issues easing by year end.
“The industry’s optimism reflects the fact that emerging economies are getting more resilient and figuring out ways to weather supply chain disruption. If emerging markets can get better access to vaccines and give small business a boost, they can help power a broad, dynamic global recovery,” concluded Sultan