24 March 2010 | Rima Evans

Cost-cutting and gaining greater control of spend are the chief concerns of buyers in southern Africa this year, an SM survey has found.

Also high on the agenda were supplier relationship management, increasing compliance and sustainable procurement.

The priorities of those surveyed in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa reflect the aims of buyers in western organisations established in a separate SM poll earlier this year.

While the standard business imperative to maximise profit was cited by many of the 66 respondents as a reason to cut costs, most admitted it was a fallout of the downturn.

Some 56 per cent of respondents – drawn from private, public and state-owned organisations in the region – said their savings targets had increased in the past year. Furthermore, nearly two-thirds said their responsibilities had been extended as a result of the economic slump.

* The full story will appear in the southern Africa edition of SM on 1 April.