Track: Sustainability in Supply Chains and Operations

Abstract

The implementation of sustainability practices into the supply chains has gained less attention in Africa continent compared to the Europe, America, and Asia continents. Especially, in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where mineral resources are abundant compared to other countries in Africa. In this part of Africa, there is a paucity of research about this topic due to the facts that supply chain sustainability still in the development and experimental phases. Additionally, in DRC sustainability practices have not received much attention from industry practitioners owing to business organizations seeking how to become competitive in the global market and making maximum profits whilst being sustainable. In light of this, the present study aimed at identifying relevant challenges hindering the development of Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) in mining sector of DRC. The findings revealed that the major barriers for creating SSCM involve Lack of commitment on environmental deterioration, lack of communication and knowledge sharing, Ineffective monitoring and control system, lack of effective policy and legislation direction, high cost associated with the implementation of SSCM, Poor Supplier Commitment, lack of green practitioners, poor senior managements’ commitment, lack of recycling activities.