The non-executive chairperson of the Minerals Income and Investment Fund (MIIF), Professor Douglas Boateng, has again urged governments educationalists and policymakers in developing economies to consider introducing strategic sourcing as a core subject to be taught at secondary, senior high schools (SHS) and at universities.

The retired Professor extraordinaire for supply chain management and industrialisation and the former chairperson of the Public Procurement Authority made the clarion call during a Pan-African lecture at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) in Accra.

Professor Boateng told the audience that if Africa was to meet the 2030 goals and Agenda 2063, buying behaviours, especially among the youth, had to change.

He said the youth needed to understand the importance of their sourcing decisions on industrialization and economic development.

"Strategic sourcing is one of the most important subjects the youth can learn for them to understand the impact of their behaviours on long-term industrialization and economic development," he said

He insisted that strategic sourcing should be incorporated into the curriculum of secondary, SHS and universities across Africa.

"I think everyone should have some basic understanding of strategic sourcing before they graduate from secondary school, and or university," Boateng said.

"It is the key to Africa’s long-term economic growth and the success of AFCFTA; a market which according to the World Bank shall be worth over $3 trillion by 2035," he added.

He explained that introducing strategic sourcing “early” in the knowledge development cycle would help the youth understand their behavioural impact on industrialization and development.

"Africa leads the world in importing goods and services, yet our students do not study procurement. Why and how is this acceptable? We annually spend over a trillion dollars on goods and services. It is our responsibility to at least let them understand the implications of their choices," he said.

For years, Professor Boateng has relentlessly advocated for incorporating strategic sourcing into the early education curriculum.

In 2015 he made a clarion call for strategic sourcing to be seen as a "core skill requirement," similar to accounting and economics.

In 2009 the Professor joined the region's top policymakers and C-Suite supply chain professionals to help update the Business Management curriculum in Business Schools and universities across the region.

These updates ensured that supply chain management and procurement became integral parts of various educational and professional programs.

At the lecture, Professor Boateng also presented GIMPA with free copies of his latest strategic sourcing book, Insights into Strategic Sourcing: The inextricable link to Africa's long-term industrialization, supply chain governance and economic development.

In his closing remarks, Professor Martin Morgan Tuuli, Deputy Rector of the university, co-host and chairman of the event, said, "there is the need for supply chain management and, in particular, strategic sourcing to be at the core of the African Industrialisation Agenda.”

He promised that GIMPA would take the lead in the academic world and work closely with industry to ensure “that fit-for-purpose procurement professionals are churned out for industry for the greater good of Ghana and the rest of Africa."

He further affirmed.

The latest edition of the Professor's writings on sourcing is the only manuscript in the world providing practical insights into sourcing and its direct link to economic growth and development.

Forewords for the book are written by the Secretary General of AFCFTA, Wamkele Mene and the Co-chairman of the SDG and the President of Ghana, President Nana Akufo-Addo.

"Introducing students to the role and importance of strategic sourcing for regional industrialization, economic growth and development early on in their education will help to support regional economies as they pursue industrialisation and sustainable development agendas", Boateng concluded.