Counterfeiting is not a new phenomenon in the African market, but it is quickly making its way into supply chains across the continent and triggering crises for many organizations or businesses.
Almost every other product has been counterfeited from music CDs, movies, food, drugs, bags, and other items. There has been no shortage of counterfeit items over the years.
The data is similar across multiple industries, with Africa and Asia taking the lead. The problem is not new, but it is beginning to creep into various supply chains on the continent.
As businesses and organizations seek to reduce the cost of their supply chains, they are putting pressure on procurement to source cheaper items. The challenge with cheaper is that cheaper comes with a lot of problems. In the same way, being expensive doesnโt always mean quality.
Why is Counterfeiting a Big Challenge For African Supply Chains
There are two main reasons why counterfeited goods in the supply chain are problematic for many businesses and organizations. The first is customer health and safety, and a close second is brand reputation.
No business wants to be responsible for the health deterioration of any of its customers. Besides the moral issues, it is a PR nightmare for any business and supply chain.
Remember Samsung and the exploding batteries? Luckily, there were no lives affected. However, the company took a major hit, and they are still trying to recover in some international markets.
Considering the current economic crisis hitting the continent, such a bad PR could end many businesses. Although many more supply chains are beginning to source cheaper and not so better, the consequences are not worth it.
How to Battle Counterfeiting in African Supply Chains
There are three key ways businesses in Africa can battle counterfeiting in their supply chains. And we will explore them in this section of the article.
1. Know Who You Are Getting into Bed With
In an increasingly competitive market, supply chains must produce better and cheaper products. The best way they can do this is by collaborating with vendors who are experts in different facets of the supply chain.
However, not all suppliers are the right fit for a business or its supply chain, and it is important to flush them out. To not take this seriously is to expose the supply chain to a lot of bad-faith players, and it could eventually disrupt the entire system.
Some of the ways to do this are by conducting proper research on the suppliers and the market pedigree, evaluating their expertise, and assessing their capacity. You want these three in place before getting in bed with any supplier.
When you have thoroughly settled those three, you may start negotiating the prices of the raw materials. You may do this for multiple suppliers, but always get the basics out of the way when sourcing.
2. Quality Assurance
Everyone will blame your supply chain or business if things go wrong. They will seldom consider the role of the vendor in any of it. Why is this important? Taking responsibility for the type of goods or materials that make their way into the supply operations is paramount.
Quality assurance is one of the effective ways of guaranteeing the standard or quality of these goods. Irrespective of their cost to the supply chain. Counterfeiting can be intentional or not, but ensuring it has no place in your supply chain is your responsibility.
The process may differ depending on the type of industry, raw material, or supply chain. Many times, it could be as simple as checking the density of a petroleum product using a hydrometer. Other times, not as much.
It should also be conducted for direct and indirect products in the supply chain primarily because they each have their way of causing problems for the supply chain when their quality is not sorted out.
3. Training and Education
Training and educating staff on how to spot or identify counterfeits can prove very effective for supply chains. It allows the supply chain to decentralize the quality assurance process and gives each member of the supply chain team the ability to test the materials quickly and efficiently.
Educating the staff on why counterfeited materials in the supply chain are a terrible idea for the business, and everyone involved goes a long way. This way, suppliers also find it difficult to get past an entire team. Even if they can fool or bribe one or two team members.
Bribery is a common problem. But when the experts are more, it becomes infinitely more difficult and expensive for suppliers to take that option.
๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ. ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐. ๐๐น๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟโ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐.
Obinabo Tochukwu Tabansi is a supply chain digital writer (Content writer & Ghostwriter) helping professionals and business owners across Africa learn from real-world supply chain wins and setbacks and apply proven strategies to their own operations. He also crafts social content for logistics and supply chain companies, turning their solutions and insights into engaging posts that drive visibility and trust.
