Ghana launches the first electronic market for the public sector in West Africa

News from Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Source: Starrfm.com.gh

2019-04-30

Ghana has become the first country in the West Africa sub-region to set up an e-procurement system for the public sector.

This was announced by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President, when he launched the Ghana Electronic Procurement System (GHANEPS) in Accra on Tuesday, April 30, 2019.

The e-procurement system is designed to combat bribery in procurement procedures by minimizing human interaction and increasing the productivity of purchasing managers and service providers, as long as all processes and procedures are in place. Manual purchases are automated.

In addition, service providers (suppliers, consultants and contractors) will be able to respond to calls for tenders, seek clarification and other information from the comfort of their offices via the Internet. The time and risk badociated with submissions will be significantly reduced and / or eliminated.

In addition, there will be a considerable reduction in the use of paper badociated with tender calls, greater ease of tracking and auditing, greater accuracy in reports and statistics, a increasing the number of participating suppliers in the public markets, an increase in the number of calls for tenders and a reduction in costs. within the time frame of supply.

In line with international best practices, Ghana's electronic procurement system uses Open Contracting Data (OCDS) standards for communication and information display. In this format, information is available at each stage of the procurement process.

Phase 1 of the e-procurement system has started with five (5) government agencies – Servicing Roads Department, Ghana Cocoa Board, Ghana Health Service, Koforidua Technical University and Tema Metropolitan Assembly – with the Phase II, covering the 34 ministries, public universities, metropolitan bademblies and some departments and agencies, is expected to begin at the end of June 2019.

The phased roll-out is expected to continue until the end of 2020, when all public entities will have to use the e-procurement system for their procurement activities, officials at the Authority said. public procurement.

Speaking at the launch in Accra, Vice President Bawumia explained that the government's many digital interventions were aimed at getting Ghana into the digital age and making life easier for ordinary Ghanaians.

"The government's desire to digitize our economy is based on the need to facilitate the provision of public services, formalize the economy, reduce the risks badociated with the business climate and, above all, solve the problems of corruption", said Vice President Bawumia.

"As a government, we are fully committed to improving the transparency and efficiency of the procurement process. With this end-to-end modular electronic procurement system and its integration with other government systems – such as the Ministry of the General Registry, the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Ghana Electronic Payment Portal , etc., and possibly with GIFMIS, we are getting closer to this goal. . "

Vice President Bawumia, Vice President Bawumia, congratulated the board, management and staff of the Public Procurement Authority, as well as the Minister and staff of the Ministry of Communications, for their efforts to In Ghana, procurement fraud saves many productive hours of work and loss of income due to theft.

"Ghana is entering a new era of public procurement. It will soon be a thing of the past where service providers have to travel long distances to access tender documents, submit bids or ask for clarification.

"The use of the submission boxes will be a story. Now your computer is your Tender Box. Civil society and the general public no longer need to contact public entities to request information on its procurement activities … The e-procurement system is another a step towards fighting corruption in our public procurement processes. "

Some experts estimate that public procurement violations account for nearly 90% of corruption cases and that the adoption of electronic procurement could save countries up to 2% of GDP. Ghana could save $ 100 million a year, according to Ghana's director of the World Bank, Henry Kerali.