Zanzibar has become the latest African adopter of e-procurement in a bid to increase efficiency and reduce corruption.
The island’s president, Hussein Mwinyi, has ordered government offices to use the e-procurement system from the next financial year.
Mwinyi said the new system would manage public funds, improve transparency and competitiveness, and save time during the tendering process.
“This system should be applied in all government offices from the lower to the top level. It should start from municipality and administrative councils, to district, regional, government agencies and institutions as well as ministries,” he told state newspaper Daily News.
Zanzibar, an island that forms part of Tanzania, has contracted the Oman Data Park, Ozone International, and Jaggaer to install the system.
Mwinyi emphasised how the system would help reduce corruption in procurement – the area of government that accounted for 70% of the budget and was most vulnerable to fraud, he said.
“A lack of transparency and accountability, as well as a business-as-usual attitude, were among factors recognised as a major threat to integrity in public procurement,” he said, adding that he was aware of resistance among some government officials to the changes.
“If there are legal drawbacks, the review process should take place. The tax and procurement reforms in the government aim to achieve transparency and efficiency,” he said.
Mwinyi said potential contractors should be trained to use the new system.
Maqbool Al Wehaibi, CEO of Oman Data Park, said around 65% of all countries globally will have adopted e-procurement by 2023 – in many cases to cut down on fraud.
Rwanda became the first African country to implement an e-procurement system in 2018.
Rwandan officials travelled to South Korea to learn about its own advanced system and then gained World Bank funding for a feasibility study before implementing the system.
Yassin Iyamuremye, director general of corporate services in Rwanda’s agriculture ministry, said: “The system contributed to reducing fraud and corruption as there is no personal contact with bidders, and when complaints are received, these are responded to through the e-procurement system in a transparent way.”
In March, SM reported that Ghana’s Public Procurement Authority was to press for laws to make it mandatory for all public entities to publish tender information on the country’s e-procurement platform to encourage transparency in public procurement.
The authority complained that the majority of public institutions were not using Ghana Electronic Procurement System even though 430 bodies had been enrolled onto the system since it was introduced in 2019.
In 2018, 13 African procurement leaders signed a declaration promising to introduce more e-public procurement systems. Signatories included South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.
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