Alumni Success Story: Isabel Ramirez, ZLOGb Alumni and Chief Commercial Officer at ERG Africa
“The experience at MIT in Boston was phenomenal. We had the opportunity to have lectures with world-class professors and exchange knowledge with international Master candidates.“
Isabel, first of all, congratulations on your recent promotion to Chief Strategic Projects and Energy at ERG Africa! How has this new role influenced your perspective on the importance of logistics and supply chain management in the energy sector?
Firstly, I am thankful for the opportunity to share my perspective and views of the supply chain and logistics role in the industry I am in, which is very often underestimated. Before starting, I would like to clarify first, what we call Energy sector.
Energy is one of the world’s largest and most important sectors to which one also need to emphasize all the activities involved in the production, distribution, and consumption of energy. And within it, we have Energy demand sectors (industry, residential and commercial, transport, and agriculture) and Energy supply sectors (resource extraction, conversion, and delivery of energy equipment).
Now with that being said, let me answer your question. More than ever, Supply Chain (SC) has taken a critical role in this sector. We live in a world that is chasing the clock in terms of fighting back climate change. The ambitious goals set forth starting by the Paris Agreement, to achieve net Zero by 2050, means that the Energy Transition needs to be fast-tracked.
This means, accelerating the replacement of fossil fueled energies by a more sustainable energy generating technologies, such as wind, solar, biomass, hydropower, gas, among others. This transition can’t be achieved without the necessary technology deployment. I am referring to turbines, motors, solar panels, among other type of equipment. And, if you go backwards in the value chain, all these technologies will require minerals, such as Cober, Cobalt, Lithum and Nickel.
Clean energy applications have become the main driver of demand growth for a range of critical minerals. According to the WTO, “over the past five years, trade in PGM (Platinum Group Metals), rare earths and other minerals has almost doubled, reaching a total value of US$ 219 billion in 2022”. Whilst in 2023, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), “lithium demand rose by 30%, while demand for nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements all saw increases ranging from 8% to 15%”. This means that we need to drastically improve our supply efforts in the Supply sector, to be able to meet the demand.
Now, putting things into perspective, Supply Chain and Logistics in the energy sector play a crucial role, as they will enable the supporting industries to be able to deliver the necessary elements to produce what is required, aligned with the timing of the goals set for net Zero.
Supply Chainers in the energy sector, both in demands as well as in supply sectors, have become orchestrators of a highly complex masterpiece: Understanding the global network landscape and their economics, the global logistics flows, the geographical strengths of certain geographies in the sourcing of minerals and production of technologies, the understanding of legislative constraints, financial models and investment models, all the way to “project-mange” the necessary flows of information, materials, and resources to achieve that businesses are trying to chase in the energy sector.
Your current company, ERG Africa, is a major producer of critical minerals such as cobalt and copper, essential for the global energy transition. What are some of the key logistical challenges your company faces in this sector, and how are you addressing them?
I would like to frame my answer within our geographical operations in Africa. The challenges and problems we face are quite different compared to other parts of the world. Developed countries want to be “greener” whilst in majority of Africa we just need electrification as a start.
Now, if we look into the most prominent African countries who have the biggest reserves of critical minerals which in turn support the energy transition goals, we have similar issues:
- Low electrification rate: this looks “funny” in a way, but mines need energy to excavate, process mineral and produce metal. Traditionally, most mines in Africa have been using fossil-fueled technologies to support operations. There is a well-established oil and coal fired set-up in the Region. In the African Copperbelt (DRC, Zambia), we have well established hydropower electricity supply, however not enough to cover the domestic and industrial demand.
- Poor Infrastructure: over time, investments in the existent infrastructure ceased and maintenance budgets reduced. This translated in constant challenges to receive energy to the mines, meaning that production is curtailed.
- Information systems are not modernized: platforms to trace the flows of energy and merchandise cross border are antique or not existent, with most tasks still been performed manually with low (or none) automation and keeping physical records of data.
- Foreign Investment: lack of understanding of the Energy “system”. (This is one of the strengths of the program – systems thinking- by the way.) most of the investment that these African countries have attracted, related to the mines themselves. However, looking backwards in the supply chains relevant to the mines, we require major investments in the energy supply sector to develop the necessary generation and transport capacity to deliver power to the mines so they can deliver, in turn, minerals required to produce the electrical equipment needed. According to the IEA, “To reach net zero emissions by 2050, annual clean energy investment worldwide will need to more than triple by 2030 to around $4 trillion”.
On this regard, we are fostering collaboration between public, industry and foreign investors to promote local generation and transmission project to improve coverage and delivery. Some of these collaborations include partnership with local utilities to improve local infrastructure; as well as new investment in renewable projects that can add to the grid. Moreover, we will be cooperating in implementing a new platform to increase traceability in the movement of energy across the network.
In addition, we are looking into co-generation alternatives such as solar, Mycro-hydro and biomass in the short-term.
Manufacturing delays in implementing some of these alternatives are unavoidable, and as such, we have had to change design and technology to accommodate the execution deadlines.
How do you see the field of logistics and supply chain management evolving in the next few years, especially in the context of the mining and minerals industry?
The SC field is being more and more recognized by different industries. The world will be short of these key professionals, and it’s a reality already. We need more SC talent in the energy sector to be able to achieve the Energy Transition and Net ZERO goals. If you look at manufacturing lead-times of most of the equipment needed for solar panels, turbines and motors are getting longer and longer as a result of the rising demand and the shortage of materials. But not only that, the pool of engineers and supply chain professionals is already not enough to support the sector.
What motivated you to pursue the Blended Master of Engineering in Logistics and Supply Chain Management (ZLOGb) at ZLC? How has the master degree influenced your career path and professional growth?
As an executive in mining and at the time Deputy Commercial Officer, I was looking for a course that would upskill me in the knowledge od leading my SC teams. It was then that I discovered the MIT MicroMasters course, which led me to attending the program in Zaragoza. Zaragoza is a gateway of Supply Chain to Europe!
The modules were convenient for me, as I was working full time. The online program allowed me to manage my own time. After achieving the Micrometer’s credential, pursuing the Masters became my next objective.
After the Masters, I understood how pivotal the SC organization could be within our business, and I started to discuss with my executive the shift required to transform the business by bringing SC as a competitive strength. Later, we added energy to the SC portfolio. Now I lead Strategic Projects and Energy using the same principles.
Given your experience in the mining and minerals sector with ERG Africa, what skills and profiles are currently in high demand, and how did the ZLOGb program help you develop these competencies?
Like I mentioned before: systems thinking is one of the most critical skills as well as the ability to be able to work with and influence others.
As a supply chainer, you must have the academic skills, which are very important to understand, but at the end, you need to read through the market dynamics, your specific geographic strengths and constraints, internal company processes and dynamics, to become an asset for the company.
You need to have the full picture of how everything links together and the relationships between them: from planning demand, to processing, procurement, logistics, delivery and sales.
The most critical roles for us are Supply Chain Managers. Individuals who are beyond knowledgeable (academically), but also who can think systemically and anticipate any potential risk or spot a good opportunity.
Given the constraints I spoke about earlier, MRP Managers and IBP professionals are also becoming more and more relevant.
We have recruited some of these roles from ZLC.
Can you share any memorable experiences from your time at ZLC?
The experience at MIT in Boston was phenomenal. We had the opportunity to have lectures with world-class professors and exchange knowledge with international Master candidates. Towards the end, in Zaragoza, we faced the COVID-19 pandemic, and we thought that this was the end of our Masters and we will probably have to finish it up at a later stage. However, the lecturers were so quick to pick up on the new “virtual classroom” technologies which allowed us to continue our lectures as if we were attending in person.
I loved the diverse group of staff, students and lecturers. I felt privileged to experience other cultures and their perspective.
The university I chose allowed me to enjoy the Zaragoza city and its people.
