This was the view of participants, summarized by the
representative of South Africa, at the Public Procurement
Conference in Africa (Abidjan, 30 November to 4 December). This was
the first conference to jointly address procurement reform issues
that affect all of Africa.
Co-sponsored by ITC, the African Development Bank, the World
Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the
conference helped participants from 30 countries address public
procurement challenges and opportunities. Conference evaluations by
national participants and sponsors alike showed they considered it
to be a watershed event.
These conference excerpts highlight the range and scope of
issues related to public procurement reform.
Abidjan Consensus Document on Public Procurement
Reform
1. Build Support for Reform.
Procurement reform needs: political endorsement and commitment; a
strategy for developing enabling legislation, organizations and
regulations; well-trained and competent procurement officials; and
supportive business and professional sectors, locally and
internationally.
2. Political Commitment.
Required to: enact legislation; obtain public support and
government staff endorsement; make key elements of procurement a
priority (such as transparency and anti-corruption); promote
socio-economic objectives; reassure potential donors.
3. Obtain Resources for Reform.
Technical assistance may be required for preliminary baseline
studies and development of a business plan. Funding sources may
include: a country's own resources (government and/or private
sector); regional and bilateral cooperation agreements; grants and
loans from multilateral agencies such as the African Development
Bank, the World Bank or UNDP. Implementation support can be
provided by ITC and other United Nations organizations to build
capacity, or other countries that share information or lend
(second) staff.
4. Strategy for Reform.
Key elements of any reform strategy are to: self-initiate reforms
with donor assistance as needed; build local capacity and transfer
skills; designate a champion of reform; integrate reform within the
macro-economic framework; monitor and evaluate reform efforts;
maximize national expertise (complemented by external resources);
obtain media support to promote acceptance of reform; communicate
national commitment and progress; ensure clear, understandable
goals (reform is not an end in itself); and anticipate obstacles
and quickly overcome them.
5. Steps in Developing a Strategy.
• Determine a vision and the goals of the reformed system.
• Establish goals to fulfill the vision, such as anti-corruption
measures, transparency enhancement, econo-my in purchasing,
accountability for funds, sustainable human development and
promotion of socio-economic objectives.
• Identify the best leader of the reform effort (the Minister of
Finance or higher).
• Obtain advice from stakeholders (such as line ministries and
buying agencies, finance and justice ministries, Parliament, the
private sector, and the international development community).
6. Changes to Support Reform.
• Legal framework. Model on the UNCITRAL Model Law on Public
Procurement.
• Procurement operations. Create decentralized procurement
entities, with authority to conduct the actual buying operations
(following centralized policy).
• Regulatory bodies. Assure effective audit and review
capability of contracting and expenditures.
• Organizational structure. Dependent on the extent of
decentralization and the country's specific ministry and office
structure. Procurement policy at center of government level.
Identify a management office to formulate policy and regulations,
and measure the effectiveness of the public procurement system.
• Professional infrastructure. Establish and train a cadre of
professional procurement officials, and build up a reference
knowledge base of best practices.
• Measure performance of the reformed system. Provide feedback
mechnaism to measure effects of the reform process.
For more information about the conference, follow-up
actions, and public procurement reforms in general, contact Wayne
Wittig, ITC Senior Adviser, Public Sector Procurement, at wittig@intracen.org or fax
+41 22 730 0328.