A key challenge in global trade is that it has remained a mostly manual process until recently, and remains complex and convoluted.

Gartner Research outlines four pillars of global trade: trade, compliance, movement and financing. The ‘trade’ pillar, a supporting pillar to the others, involves handling sourcing, import and export orders, and selling. The ‘compliance’ pillar involves activities like screening restricted parties (organizations and people banned from importing/exporting by nations), customs declaration, and paying duty and taxes. The ‘movement’ pillar is the logistics of getting goods from producer to consumer. And the ‘finance’ pillar includes activities like issuing letters of credit, settling and trade financing.

ICT has made an impact on global trade management, but with the complex nature of the sector, gaps in end-to-end solutions, and growing global trade, there is much more space for it to do so.

South Africa is not a laggard when it comes to global trade. In fact, according to the World Bank’s survey on trade logistics, South Africa has been rated 28 out of 155 countries surveyed on speed of trade practices. The country ranks highly, based on over-performance, along with China (27) and India (47).

For over a decade, basic import/export software met the needs of this sector, but in recent years, specialist global trade management software has gained momentum. International players like Management Dynamics and, of course, SAP operates in this space.

This will ensure the automation of key customs processes such as ‘import/export customs clearance, advance electronic notification of impending goods arrival/departure, and secure recording of goods movements’.

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