Must Know Tips for Importing in Africa

Must Know Tips for Importing in Africa 

Africa is home to seven of the ten fastest growing economies in the world.  Although this continent is seemingly perceived as underdeveloped, steady economic growth, particularly in the sub-Saharan region, has made Africa an attractive place to do business.

However, importers interested in maintaining a strong compliance program should be mindful of the less attractive difficulties encountered while conducting business in Africa. Common impediments include weak corporate infrastructure, government instability and corruption, IT systems issues, and electricity shortages among vendors.  To combat these challenges there are three must know tips that every importer should utilize. The tips are focused on regular communication with African vendors, implementation of strong corporate bribery programs, and management of pre-inspection programs.

Tip 1: Focused Communication

Proactive alignment and anticipation of setbacks is best practice in managing a successful supply chain on any continent, but in Africa where the business mindset differs significantly from that of the United States and where IT systems issues, electrical shortages and staffing challenges are commonplace, alignment through communication is absolutely essential.

Prior to utilizing a vendor in Africa, it is vital to understand what access a vendor has to computers, telephones, and backup generators. Additionally, businesses should also become intimately aware of the vendors staffing capabilities. Many vendors in Africa work from small offices with limited staff. Thus, it is important to know how daily duties are distributed and whether there is sufficient back up if one staff member were to fall ill or leave the organization.

Once comfortable with the technical and staffing capabilities of a vendor, businesses should create a focused and regular communication flow. If possible, ask that the vendor assign a primary contact responsible for escalating issues directly to the business.  Also, if physical access to African vendors is limited by proximity or resources, conduct a weekly or biweekly call and maintain a focused action tracker. Regular communication and use of an action tracker, if only to monitor incoming shipments, will mitigate frustrating delays and keep all interested parties on task.

Tip 2: Corporate Bribery Evaluation

In certain regions of Africa, bribery by border agents or other government officials is prevalent. The tool to mitigate bribery and a sticky legal situation is the distribution of evaluation and anti-bribery documentation to all vendors before contracts are signed. High risk vendors that are likely to come in contact with bribery are carriers, forwarders, brokers and brokers’ agents. Signed evaluation and anti-bribery documents will help in the selection of vendors and can be kept on file to ensure future compliance.

Tip 3: Manage Pre-inspection Arrangements

Most countries in Africa require a pre-inspection of goods prior to exportation. Once the inspection is completed, the agency produces a Clean Report of Findings (CRF). The CRF is included with export documents. Failure to procure a CRF will delay importation and is grounds for penalties and re-exportation. Considered a tedious and lengthy process, pre-inspections can be simplified by close management.

Management begins by identifying which inspection agency will be utilized. Some countries in Africa require that a certain inspection agency conduct the inspection while in other countries the agency is of no importance. Understanding the policy of the country of import is necessary in the inspection agency selection. Information about which inspection agency to use can be obtained through your broker in the country of import or by contacting the agencies themselves.  The four most commonly utilized inspection firms are Cotecna, Bureau Veritas, Intertek and SGS.

Equipped with the knowledge of what inspection agency to use for the country of import, work with the inspection agency to identify an account representative that will be responsible for managing and escalating any challenges that may occur in the inspection process. Identifying an account representative also increases accountability in the inspection process and can facilitate communication flow if a delay is experienced.

 

Contributor: George Ghawi

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If you would like additional information or other useful tips about importing to Africa and how Allyn can assist, please contact Allyn International at 239-489-9900 or sales@allynintl.com