Ghana remains stuck in “slow growth” mode, according to the latest Logistics Managers Index (LMI) report, covering the first quarter of 2024. The overall LMI value hit an all-time low of 62.4.
Regardless, the score still reflects an expansion, as has been the case every quarter since the LMI’s inception in March 2022. Any score above 50 indicates that logistics activities are expanding. A reading below 50 would reflect a contraction.
The LMI summarizes the survey responses of supply chain and operations managers from multiple industries in Ghana. CARISCA researchers collected data for the first quarter report from January to March 2024 from 373 respondents.
“These first-quarter 2024 results continue to reveal the predictive nature of the LMI in relation to the economy of Ghana as a whole,” says Emmanuel Quansah, lead author and a member of CARISCA’s research faculty. “This is the fourth consecutive quarter where we have seen a slowing of logistics growth.”
The LMI measures the quarterly growth or decline of Ghana’s logistics industry based on eight key components:
- Inventory levels
- Inventory costs
- Warehousing capacity
- Warehousing utilization
- Warehousing prices
- Transportation capacity
- Transportation utilization
- Transportation prices
All eight metrics studied were in the growth category. However, all metrics except one (inventory costs) reflected slower growth than in the previous quarter.
“Inflation picked up again in March after dropping in December 2023,” notes Quansah. “The cedi’s poor trading against key international currencies also exacerbates the situation, resulting in a high cost of doing business and slowing down of the economy.”
More details about the latest LMI report and plans to replicate it in other African countries will be shared at both the Supply Chain Research Summit in June and the Business Forum in July.
Key findings from the Q1 2024 report include:
- Aggregate logistics costs dropped for the sixth consecutive quarter, to the lowest value since the LMI’s inception.
- Even though the transportation price metric recorded an all-time low, respondents were of the view that the cost of transportation is still high.
- Organizations seem to have deviated from the normal trend of restocking after the December holidays, leading to a slump of growth in inventory levels.
- The Electronic Payment System Index (EPI) crossed the 70 mark for the third time. Expectations are for use of electronic payments within the logistics sector to grow steadily as fintech receives broader adoption.
- Survey respondents are slightly more optimistic than they were last quarter about growth in logistics activities and the Ghanaian economy in general over the next 12 months.
For prior reports, visit the LMI website: carisca.knust.edu.gh/LMI.
Senior executives and managers of Ghanaian organizations are invited to participate in the next quarterly LMI survey by visiting https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Q2-24-LMI.