Alumni Success Story – Víctor Ashagbley, ZLOG 2009 and Supply Chain Officer at UNHCR. See profile on Linkedin
“ZLC provided me with the educational background and qualification to be able to compete with other professionals in the field of humanitarian logistics.”
Víctor Ashagbley, a 2009 alumnus of the MIT Zaragoza Master of Engineering in Logistics and Supply Chain Management (ZLOG), has made significant contributions to humanitarian logistics. Originally from Ghana with a background in medicine, he joined Médecins Sans Frontières after his master’s, working in South Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Republic of Congo. He is currently serving as a Supply Chain Officer at UNHCR in Nigeria. Víctor’s expertise highlights the vital role of logistics in humanitarian aid.
How did your experience at ZLC shape your career path, especially your transition from herbal medicine to logistics and supply chain management?
ZLC provided me with the educational background and qualification to be able to compete with other professionals in the field of humanitarian logistics. In addition, the knowledge and I gained at ZLC helped me to have a good understanding of supply chains and that was valuable in the transition to what is basically a different industry. Besides all that, interacting with other students from all over the world at ZLC gave me a good taste of working in multicultural environment as well.
What motivated you to join Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) immediately after completing your master’s degree?
Medicins Sans Frontieres is one of the humanitarian organizations that is well known for having well set up logistics systems that enable it to respond rapidly to humanitarian crisis in many parts of the world. I collaborated with them for data collection during my thesis at ZLC, during which time I got to understand their operations even more. Right after ZLC I felt that was a good envionment to work and gain valuable experience in humanitarian logistics.
With your extensive experience in South Sudan, Ethiopia, the Republic of Congo, Uganda, and now Nigeria, you have a remarkable understanding of the logistical landscape in Africa. Can you share some of the key logistical challenges you faced while working in humanitarian logistics there? Additionally, what has been the most rewarding aspect of your career so far?
One of the big challenges in humanitarian logistics is to do with the remote locations in which some humanitarian crisis occur and the need to set up the right supply chains to be able to deliver goods and services necessary to provide aid. Some of these remote areas lack basic infrastructure like roads, electricity, and even adequate human resource. In some cases, we’ve had to set up warehouses, construct air strips and bring in everything that was needed to run our operations on the ground.
On the other hand, being able to set up a logistics system to deliver aid, almost from scratch, comes with it a high sense of achievement as one is able to directly see one’s efforts having a big impact on the lives of people affected by humanitarian crisis.
How did your role evolve when you joined UNHCR as a Supply Chain Officer, and what are your current responsibilities in Nigeria?
In Medecins Sans Frontieries, most of the work that I did was direct management and implementation of logistics activities. For example, my team and I directly managed the warehouses and the fleet of trucks for delivering relief items. However in UNHCR, some of the logistics activities are outsourced to implementating partners, which are other NGOs that are specialized to do them. In this way, my role is more of monitoring and coordinating these logistics activities that are directly managed by these other NGOs on UNHCR’s behalf.
In Nigeria, I’m responsible for the supply chain activities of the field office. This involves leading a team to carry out procurement of goods and services, managing warehouses containing relief items and coordinating the transportation of these items for distribution to refugees. I’m also responsible for establishing and managing the contracts for the goods and services that are required.
In your opinion, what are the most critical skills and knowledge areas that the ZLOG program provided you for your work in humanitarian logistics?
The most critical skill I learned from the ZLOG Program was analytical thinking skills. I learned how to look for and obtain data, question its source, analyze it and also know how to use it for decision making. This is a valuable skill to have in the humanitarian field where data isn’t readily available and one has to be resourceful, and even creative, in knowing how to use data to help with managing many activities.
I also obtained a good understanding of supply chains through the ZLOG Program curriculum. The case studies we did, even in different industries were very useful in providing knowledge that could be used across different sectors.
What advice would you give to current and prospective students who are considering a career in logistics and supply chain management, particularly in the humanitarian sector?
I would say the humanitarian sector is rewarding in the way that one can make a big impact in the lives of people affected by humanitarian crises. It is also challenging in terms of the logistics challenges that one wouldn’t encounter in other sectors. This provides a good mix of experiences that are worth it.
Finally, how do you see the field of humanitarian logistics evolving in the next decade, and what role do you hope to play in that future?
One big shift that has started in recent years has been the gradual move away from providing relief items like blankets, jerry cans, food, etc to rather providing money to people affected by humanitarian crisis for them to get their basic needs. This has resulted in the reduction of related logistics infrastructure such as warehouses and transportation of relief items. This is something that’s going to keep growing as humanitarian organizations and donors see the cost savings in removing some of this logistics infrastructure.
Another thing that’s gaining ground is that humanitarian organizations are becoming more aware of the impact of their activities on the environment. Some organizations are already making efforts to reduce their carbon footprint by looking at more environmentally friendly and sustainable alternatives to the relief items that are distributed to refugees.
Over the years, as there’s been the move to adopt supply chain practices from the private sector to the humanitarian field, I hope to continue contributing to this process through my experience and expertise to make humanitarian logistics more efficient.
