{"id":12898,"date":"2026-08-05T07:22:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T05:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartprocurementworld.com\/indaba\/?p=12898"},"modified":"2026-08-05T10:38:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T08:38:26","slug":"smart-procurement-world-marks-20-years-as-africas-procurement-supply-chain-leaders-reflect-on-two-decades-of-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartprocurementworld.com\/indaba\/smart-procurement-world-marks-20-years-as-africas-procurement-supply-chain-leaders-reflect-on-two-decades-of-transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"Smart Procurement World Marks 20 Years as Africa’s Procurement & Supply Chain Leaders Reflect on Two Decades of Transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 30 July 2026 \u2014 Smart Procurement World marked the 20th anniversary of its founding with a virtual leadership roundtable on 29 July 2026, bringing together six of the profession’s most influential figures in South Africa and across the continent to reflect on two decades of change and to look ahead to the future of African procurement and supply chain management.<\/span><\/p>

The hour-long, unscripted conversation, streamed live to more than 1,200 registered viewers from across Africa and beyond, brought together Debbie Tagg, CEO of Smart Procurement; Bernie Van Niekerk Founder and Editor of Smart Procurement; Kgalaletso Tlhoaele Enterprise Development Executive at Absa; Yashodh Singh, Regional Vice President for Africa at Coupa; John Karani, Kenya-based supply chain leader and Secretary General of African Supply Chain Confederation (ASCON); and Melita Ntsane, Chief Procurement Officer at African Bank. The panel was hosted and moderated by Jimmy, broadcasting from Johannesburg.<\/span><\/p>

From a newsletter to a continental community<\/b><\/p>

The panellists traced Smart Procurement origins back to 2006, when Bernie Van Niekerk launched what began as a newsletter for around a thousand subscribers writing about strategic procurement \u2014 a concept he described as, at the time, \u201calmost a bit of a dream\u201d for the profession. Early gatherings drew just 100 to 150 people, some held during the load shedding of the mid-2000s. Two decades on, the platform has grown into a continent-spanning community, with Tagg \u2014 who joined the organisation 15 years ago \u2014 describing Smart Procurement World as \u201cliterally my third child.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

\u201cIf I could summarise it in one word, it’s impact,\u201d said Bernie, reflecting on the organisation’s growth. \u201cI’ve progressed from an informal little network to a place of impact, which I’m really glad to see.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>

COVID-19 as a turning point<\/b><\/p>

Panellists agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning with South Africa’s lockdown on 25 March 2020, was the moment the procurement profession proved its strategic value beyond doubt. From sourcing ventilators and personal protective equipment to holding supply chains together through crisis, procurement teams moved from being viewed as \u201cwork prevention managers\u201d \u2014 a phrase Bernie recalled from the profession’s earlier, less strategic years \u2014 to being recognised as central to organisational survival.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cProcurement was evident in showing itself as a change agent, as a superpower, and as a catalyst or transformer,\u201d said Melita Ntsane of African Bank. \u201cThe profession came out stronger and more pronounced, both strategically and operationally.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>

Yash Singh of Coupa illustrated the divide the pandemic exposed between digitally enabled organisations, which continued operating seamlessly from home, and those still reliant on paper-based processes, which struggled with physical signatures and manual documentation. That gap, he noted, has only widened as artificial intelligence adoption accelerates: \u201cAI is nothing without data,\u201d he said, adding that companies with strong digital foundations are now best placed to benefit from AI-enabled procurement tools.<\/span><\/p>

Technology, AI and the case for a strong foundation<\/b><\/p>

The conversation turned to the growing role of artificial intelligence in procurement, with panellists cautioning against over-reliance on the technology at the expense of core professional expertise. Yash urged emerging professionals to master procurement fundamentals before turning to AI tools: \u201cAI is only as good as the person who’s wielding it,\u201d he said. \u201cYou are the spark, and then AI will execute. AI is not the spark \u2014 it’s not going to create the magic or the strategy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Melita Ntsane shared African Bank’s own digital transformation journey, including its ongoing implementation of Coupa’s procurement platform, describing the shift from \u201carchaic, document-heavy\u201d workflows towards agentic procurement capable of automatically connecting purchase orders, invoices and payment cycles.<\/span><\/p>

A pan-African outlook<\/b><\/p>

John, dialling in from Kenya, spoke to the founding in 2025 of ASCON, a new continental body for African supply chain professionals, describing it as \u201clong overdue\u201d after decades in which the continent’s supply chain community remained fragmented along national lines. \u201cWe realised that we got to create local, regional and pan-African supply chains, because we can no longer depend on China,\u201d he said, linking the initiative to the wider ambitions of the African Continental Free Trade Area.<\/span><\/p>

KgalaletsoTlhoaele of Absa, whose support of Smart Procurements enterprise and supplier development programme has supported an estimated 30,000 small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) over some 15 years of partnership, said commitment to supplier diversity and localisation varies by sector but is steadily strengthening across corporate South Africa. \u201cMore and more corporates are starting to see the benefit of diversity in their supply chain,\u201d Kgalaletso said. \u201cIt’s not necessarily only about transformation or inclusion \u2014 it is about diversity. You never know what is out there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Building the next generation<\/b><\/p>

Looking ahead, panellists emphasised the importance of developing new talent for the profession. Tagg highlighted Smart Procurement World’s Future Leaders initiative, designed to expose younger professionals to the profession’s technology, opportunities and impact, and to counter negative media narratives around government procurement and corruption with positive, achievement-focused stories.<\/span><\/p>

Asked to complete the sentence, \u201cI hope the next generation of professionals never have to \u2026,\u201d panellists offered a range of reflections: from Kgalaletso\u2019s hope that they \u201cnever have to worry about procurement,\u201d to Yash’s wish that young professionals \u201cwon’t spend 10 years arguing about a seat at the table, because it’s done,\u201d and Melita’s hope that they \u201cnever have to shy away from technology, because it’s amazing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Looking to September<\/b><\/p>

The roundtable closed with an invitation to the wider industry to attend the 20th annual Smart Procurement World Indaba and the 15th annual AbsaEnterprise and Supplier Development Expo, taking place in September 2026. Organisers noted that more than 3,500 people attended the in-person event last year and encouraged the industry \u2014 sponsors, suppliers and procurement professionals alike \u2014 to help identify past contributors to the platform’s 20-year history ahead of the celebration.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cWhat I witnessed in the past 40 or 50 minutes was very different \u2014 this wasn’t a panel, I was just talking to my friends,\u201d said host Dumi Jere in his closing remarks. \u201cIf the last 20 years were about earning a seat at the table, then perhaps the next 20 are about building a bigger table \u2014 for Africa, for our suppliers, for our SMMEs, for the young person in this room who doesn’t know yet that they are about to change this profession.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \t\t\t\t<\/div> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div> \t\t\t\t<\/div> \t\t

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ABOUT SMART PROCUREMENT WORLD<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div> \t\t\t\t<\/div> \t\t\t\t
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