News / National
Zimbabwe Procurement board floats 1 500 tenders
07 Nov 2011 at 04:17hrs | Views
THE State Procurement Board has this year floated 1 553 tenders, with only one case having been disputed and lost.
This was revealed by SPB executive chairman Mr Charles Kuwaza at a Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa procurement business opportunities seminar in Harare.
Mr Kuwaza said the board had taken initiatives to reduce fraudulent activities in the processing of tenders.
"This year alone up to last week, the SPB has floated over 1 553 tenders, of which 100 cases were challenged, and only a single case lost.
"The SPB has been actively working to reduce issues of bribery and laziness in the organisation by among other things, hiring new people," he said.
There have been accusations of irregularities in the SPB's tender floating and awarding processes, including bribery, nepotism and sluggish tender processing.
Other accusations relate to lack of clarity by the SPB on criteria for selecting the winning bid, which is considered a critical elements for ensuring a competitive bidding process. Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Dr Joseph Kanyekanye told the seminar there was need for greater regularisation of tender processes.
"We need to find a mechanism (as the private sector) to look into state procurement, which is critical in ensuring something close to perfect competition," he said.
The private sector could also benefit from public procurement systems.
Dr Kanyekanye gave the example of his company, Allied Timber Holdings, which he said was currently exporting timber poles to Zambia and Kenya in deals structured through State procurement mechanisms.
Zimbabwe is in the process of reforming its procurement system in line with broader initiatives in the Comesa region. This is in respect of strengthening the regulatory regime and capacity-building to improve operations and streamline procedures.
The procurement systems in the region have been elaborated as part of Comesa's public procurement reform initiative and the enhanced business opportunities promoted by such initiatives.
The CZI urged local companies to enhance competitiveness, in terms of both products and services, in view of burgeoning globalisation on local economies.
Comesa Secretariat legal advisor Mr Gabriel Masuku, on behalf of Comesa secretary-general Mr Sindiso Ngwenya, said effective procurement systems typically had growth impact on economies.
"Sound procurement systems promote competition, can reduce prices, minimise incentives for corrupt practices and, importantly, reduce the cost of doing business.
"Moreover, public procurement markets are very vital for small-to-medium enterprises and have potential to provide them with critical sustainability and growth, especially in the majority of Comesa countries, where government is often the biggest purchaser of goods and services," he said.
Zimbabwe is in the process of reviewing the relevant legislation to ensure that, when tendering out contracts for the supply to the State of goods and services, not less than 25 percent will be procured by SMEs.
This was revealed by SPB executive chairman Mr Charles Kuwaza at a Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa procurement business opportunities seminar in Harare.
Mr Kuwaza said the board had taken initiatives to reduce fraudulent activities in the processing of tenders.
"This year alone up to last week, the SPB has floated over 1 553 tenders, of which 100 cases were challenged, and only a single case lost.
"The SPB has been actively working to reduce issues of bribery and laziness in the organisation by among other things, hiring new people," he said.
There have been accusations of irregularities in the SPB's tender floating and awarding processes, including bribery, nepotism and sluggish tender processing.
Other accusations relate to lack of clarity by the SPB on criteria for selecting the winning bid, which is considered a critical elements for ensuring a competitive bidding process. Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Dr Joseph Kanyekanye told the seminar there was need for greater regularisation of tender processes.
"We need to find a mechanism (as the private sector) to look into state procurement, which is critical in ensuring something close to perfect competition," he said.
Dr Kanyekanye gave the example of his company, Allied Timber Holdings, which he said was currently exporting timber poles to Zambia and Kenya in deals structured through State procurement mechanisms.
Zimbabwe is in the process of reforming its procurement system in line with broader initiatives in the Comesa region. This is in respect of strengthening the regulatory regime and capacity-building to improve operations and streamline procedures.
The procurement systems in the region have been elaborated as part of Comesa's public procurement reform initiative and the enhanced business opportunities promoted by such initiatives.
The CZI urged local companies to enhance competitiveness, in terms of both products and services, in view of burgeoning globalisation on local economies.
Comesa Secretariat legal advisor Mr Gabriel Masuku, on behalf of Comesa secretary-general Mr Sindiso Ngwenya, said effective procurement systems typically had growth impact on economies.
"Sound procurement systems promote competition, can reduce prices, minimise incentives for corrupt practices and, importantly, reduce the cost of doing business.
"Moreover, public procurement markets are very vital for small-to-medium enterprises and have potential to provide them with critical sustainability and growth, especially in the majority of Comesa countries, where government is often the biggest purchaser of goods and services," he said.
Zimbabwe is in the process of reviewing the relevant legislation to ensure that, when tendering out contracts for the supply to the State of goods and services, not less than 25 percent will be procured by SMEs.
Source - HeraldOnline
