About the Summit

The Supply Chain Research Summit, an annual conference for supply chain researchers and practitioners, is a centrepiece of the Centre for Applied Research and Innovation in Supply Chain Africa’s strategy to put Africa’s supply chain research on the map. The goal of this event is to strengthen African supply chain capacity through bringing together academic and non-academic researchers, as well as public, private, and civil society organizations to create an ongoing dialogue to address complex supply chain challenges in Africa.

On July 6-8, 2026, CARISCA will host the sixth Annual Supply Chain Research Summit  at the Cedi Conference Centre (University of Ghana) in Accra. The 2025 summit, held in Lagos, Nigeria, attracted approximately 350 participants from 17 countries, 87 institutions, and 38 higher education institutions worldwide, featuring more than 81 presentations.

As in previous summits, the 2026 Summit will be a hybrid event, to be held in person, and virtually via Zoom.

Transforming Supply Chains in Africa in the Age of AI

The Summit will explore the theme “Transforming Supply Chains in Africa in the Age of AI,” focusing on how artificial intelligence is reshaping supply chain design, decision-making, and governance across the continent. The event will take a deeper look at how AI technologies are being adopted across sectors such as manufacturing, transport and logistics, healthcare, agriculture, and education, and what this transformation means for African organizations and economies.

Call for Papers and Submissions

Call for papers

The 2026 CARISCA Supply Chain Summit will bring together researchers, experts, practitioners, and policymakers in Africa and beyond to discuss the place of AI in Africa's supply chains. We invite faculty members, researchers, postgraduate students, and practitioners to submit papers that examine transforming supply chains in Africa in the age of AI.

Submissions may address the summit theme or any of the following tracks

Summit Tracks and Topics

Summit Theme: Transforming Supply Chains in Africa in the Age of AI

Track 1: General Supply Chains

Track 2: Sectoral Supply Chains

Track 3: Emerging Issues in Local and Global Supply Chains

Track 4: Practitioner and Policy Perspectives on African Supply Chains

Learn more:(HERE!)

PhD Dissertation Award Competition

We are also pleased to announce a call for papers for the PhD Dissertation Award Competition.

CARISCA will award a winner and two runner-ups at the 2026 Summit. The PhD Dissertation Competition session is intended to showcase the best logistics and supply chain management PhD research projects being carried out in African higher education institutions. We invite submissions from doctoral researchers whose primary affiliation is with a university or higher education institution in Africa and whose research is in logistics and supply chain management.

Learn more and submit: (HERE!)

Submission Deadline: March 31, 2026

Paper Development Workshop

The Africa Initiative of the International Journal of Operations & Production Management (IJOPM), in collaboration with CARISCA, invites researchers based in Africa to submit working papers for consideration for participation in its Paper Development Workshop (PDW), to be held at Summit. The workshop aims to support scholars based in African countries in developing theoretically grounded and empirically rigorous papers with potential for publication in leading logistics, operations, and supply chain management journals.

The PDW welcomes scholars at all career stages, including postgraduate research students, early-career researchers, and senior researchers. Participants must be working on a theoretically driven empirical paper with clear relevance to logistics, operations, or supply chain management.

Participation is limited.

Learn more and submit: (HERE!)

Submission Deadline: March 31, 2026

About CARISCA

The Centre for Applied Research and Innovation in Supply Chain - Africa (CARISCA) is a Centre of Excellence at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology supported by LEARN by Kühne Foundation

CARISCA's key objective is to support higher education institutions in building the capacity necessary to provide best-in-class research, degree programs and training; facilitate research translation and utilization; and engage stakeholders in best practices and policy changes that strengthen supply chains.