The 48th annual SAPICS Conference took place in Cape Town from 19 to 22 July 2026. The event brought together 600 supply chain professionals from across Africa and around the world to learn, share knowledge and network.
Supply chain industry body SAPICS says that this year’s gathering was more important than ever as global supply chains are facing extraordinary disruption and, in South Africa, the challenges are compounded by infrastructure constraints, water and energy instability and socio-economic issues. This year’s event was also significant because SAPICS is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2026.
At the conference, which took place at Century City Conference Centre, local and international speakers, industry experts, thought leaders and supply chain practitioners shared practical insights into the opportunities and challenges shaping modern supply chains. The opening keynote discussions this year focused on public-private collaboration, infrastructure investment and the growth of intra-Africa trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA). Talent development, AI adoption, healthcare supply chains, robotics, resilience, warehouse management transformation, quick commerce, inventory optimisation and sustainability were among the other topics on the 2026 SAPICS Conference agenda.
Transnet’s recovery journey
Transnet Group Chief Executive Adv Michelle Phillips delivered the opening keynote presentation. She provided a comprehensive overview of Transnet’s recovery journey, highlighting the progress made across the organisation’s operating divisions and the critical role each plays in enabling the efficient movement of goods across South Africa and beyond its borders. Emphasising the importance of localisation, Phillips called for greater support for local manufacturing to reduce costs, strengthen supply chain resilience and create employment opportunities. She also spoke candidly about the organisation’s successes and challenges, including widely publicised incidents of corruption involving some of Transnet’s supply chain officials. Reaffirming the organisation’s commitment to ethical governance, she told SAPICS attendees that corruption would not be tolerated.
The conference’s second keynote speaker was Demitta Gyang, Director of Customs Administration at the AfCFTA secretariat.
In his welcome address, SAPICS president Thato Moloi noted the critical role played by Transnet in keeping South Africa’s economy and supply chains moving. He thanked the SOE and Phillips for their involvement this year. Transnet was the Diamond Sponsor of the 2026 SAPICS Conference.
Build more connected African markets
Moloi said that Gyang’s compelling presentation was “an important reminder of the enormous opportunity to build more connected African markets and make trade across our continent easier and more competitive”.
Commenting on SAPICS’s six-decade journey of advancing supply chain management and elevating, educating and empowering supply chain professionals in South Africa and throughout Africa, he said: “This year’s hugely successful 48th Annual Conference was a fitting way to celebrate SAPICS’s 60th anniversary because it reflected everything the organisation stands for. SAPICS is the community and the voice of supply chain professionals across the continent, and our goal is to connect people and enable critical conversations that drive collaboration and knowledge sharing. The conference brought together like-minded people from across sectors and across Africa, all united by a shared belief in the power of supply chains and a commitment to investing in the growth and professionalism of our industry.”
Award winners
At the closing dinner that ended the conference on a festive note, prizes were awarded to the following outstanding speakers and exhibitors:
Best Written Paper: Eleanor Red Louw, from MANE in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, for her paper entitled “You’re Too Direct: A South African’s Journey to Cross-Cultural
Stakeholder Influence”
Best Workshop: Sanjay Saha and Dr Andrew Brown from Bee Skilled Global, India, for the Masterclass on Transformational Leadership
Best Speaker: Renier Louw from Inhance Supply Chain Solutions, South Africa, and Dax Puttergill from Spar Group, South Africa for the presentation entitled SPAR2U: Skip the Aisles, We Bring the Smiles
Most Innovative Speaker: Dr Mark Fuller from Afrilean Consulting, South Africa, for the presentatation entitled TIPS: A Managerial Leadership Framework for Navigating Chaos in SCM
The winning stands at the 2026 SAPICS Conference were:
Best Booth: Smartee
Best Single Stand: CEVA Logistics
Best Multi Stand: DHL
Lifetime Achiever Awards
For this year’s landmark conference that celebrated SAPICS’s 60th anniversary, special Lifetime Achiever Awards were added to the programme and presented to:
Bill Schneider (a SAPICS education partner for decades)
Cobus Rossouw (past president)
Colin Seftel (past board member)
Ken Titmuss (past president)
Liezl Smith (past president)
Martin Bailey (past board member, speaker committee member, speaker and sponsor)
MJ Schoemaker (past president)
Tracy Cheetham (past president)
Kea Mpane (past president – presented in absentia)
Mungo Park (past president – presented in absentia)
Jenny Froome (past SAPICS COO and conference organiser – presented in absentia)
In addition to Diamond Sponsor Transnet, the main sponsors of the 2026 SAPICS Conference were:
Gold Sponsor: CEVA Logistics
Silver Sponsors: B2Wise, DHL, DP World, DSV, Dube Tradeport, Slimstock
Support Sponsors: Eazi Access, Industrial Logistic System, KNAPP
Attendees have had high praise for this year’s SAPICS Conference. Bearing Man Group’s Ursela Klitzke commented: “Three years of attending the SAPICS Conference, and each one has been just as valuable as the last. I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn from industry leaders, reconnect with colleagues, meet new people and gain practical insights that I can take back into my role. Thank you to everyone who made this year’s event such a success.”
Alan Jansen van Vuuren from b2wise said: “This year was a special one. Being part of a community that’s spent six decades moving supply chain thinking forward on this continent isn’t a milestone you take lightly – it’s a reminder of how far we’ve come, and how much momentum is still building.”