Fast-moving consumer goods operators have urged the adoption of data analytics, technology, and artificial intelligence to strengthen supply chain systems, enhance customer service, and boost regional competitiveness across West Africa.

The call was made at the Route to Market West Africa Summit held in Lagos on Friday, where industry stakeholders gathered to explore strategies for improving integrated supply chains and driving innovation in the FMCG sector.

The summit, themed “The sovereignty of scale and how mastering integrated supply chain helps companies create regional dominance,” brought together key industry players to examine emerging trends and challenges in supply chain management across African markets.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Godson Nkeokelonye, Convener and Managing Director of Excite Panacea, said the summit was created as a strategic platform to align stakeholders across the FMCG ecosystem and respond to the realities of doing business in African markets.

He added that the forum offers industry leaders an opportunity to explore innovative route-to-market strategies and address the growing complexities of supply chains across the continent.

He said, “The Route to Market West Africa Summit is a strategic platform designed to bring together and align key stakeholders across the FMCG ecosystem. It provides an opportunity for industry leaders to address the unique realities of African markets, explore innovative approaches to route-to-market execution and navigate the complexities and evolving dynamics of the continent’s supply chains.”

Nkeokelonye identified market fragmentation as one of the major challenges affecting supply chain operations in Nigeria, stressing that businesses must remain flexible as market conditions continue to evolve.

“Businesses have to be continuously adaptable and responsive to these dynamics and the rapid changes shaping the marketplace,” Nkeokelonye said.

Also speaking, the General Manager of Excite Panacea, Mrs. Eniola Alli-Ayodele, urged organisations to move beyond simply collecting data and instead focus on generating actionable insights that can enhance operational efficiency.

“Organisations must leverage data to generate meaningful insights. Taking it a step further, the question becomes: how are you applying artificial intelligence to the data you have in ways that enable you to serve customers better, optimise operations more effectively and ultimately achieve supply chain excellence?” Alli-Ayodele said.

The Chief Executive Officer and Director of Bhojsons Plc, Mr. Narendra Nagarkar, described supply chain management as a key driver of business growth, noting that companies must continue to strengthen their value chains to remain competitive.

“Supply chain is not just managing facts; it is the entire value chain which takes you through procurement to reach the consumer and keep the consumer happy,” Nagarkar said.

He added that data integration and data analytics represent some of the most significant innovations transforming supply chain management.

“People and companies have started realising the importance of data, what data actually is and the value of data. I think that is the biggest change that we have seen,” Nagarkar.