SUPPLIERS TO BENEFIT FROM E2.9BN IN E-GP SYSTEM

MBABANE – An Electronic-Government Procurement System (e-GP System) is estimated to provide over E2.9 billion economic benefit for both the government and its suppliers.

This was exclusively mentioned by Eswatini Public Procurement Regulatory Agency (ESPPRA) chief Executive officer (CEO) Vusumutiwendvodza  Matsebula. Matsebula said the size of public procurement expenditure in Eswatini was estimated to be E9.67 billion in 2020. He said the ESPPRA estimated that the implementation of an e-GP system would provide over E 2.9 billion economic benefit for both the government and its suppliers through efficiencies and both tangible and intangible cost savings. The CEO mentioned that the key benefits of e-GP system to suppliers were that it would improve transparency and governance in procurement. He added that the system would result to faster processing of procurement activities resulting from online workflow and further enhanced tools to address fraud and corruption. “The system will enhance transparency achieved from online publication of tender notices, contract award notices, and online bid submission,” he added.

He further mentioned that the system would also boost economic development as savings would be derived from procurement expenditure on lower bid prices due to better and open competition of up to 30 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Matsebula said this would also increase bidder participation due to better awareness and access to opportunities as well as lead to the reduction in printing, distribution and storage of paper documents.

Uplift

The CEO added that e-GP would uplift value adding services, enhanced reporting (information management) and procurement analytics to better monitor procurement activities. ESPPRA said the main objective of the strategy was to provide a road map for the implementation of a well-functioning and end-to-end e-GP system in Eswatini. Specifically, the objectives of strategy were to improve governance through enhanced transparency and accountability. The second objective was to ensure effectiveness through public procurement information management and efficient processes. They stated that the other objective was to enhance socio-economic development through competitiveness in public procurement and improved investment climate. “These objectives form the basis of the performance indicators of implementing the e-GP system,” mention ESPPRA in the document. The regulator further mentioned that with the technical assistance of the World Bank, they carried out a readiness assessment report between May and August 2019.

Ready

The purpose of this assessment was to establish how ready the Eswatini public and private sectors were in order to transition to e-Government procurement. The assessment focused on nine components and these are; government leadership, human resources, planning and management, policy, legislation and regulation, infrastructure and web services, standards, private sector integration and systems. ESPPRA mentioned that from the analysis of the consultations and empirical evidence, the level of readiness for Eswatini was adequate for the introduction of the e-GP system in a phased manner starting from the highly ready and most willing procuring entities, and gradually rolling out across the country. They said the overall level of e-GP readiness (LoR) on nine components was assessed as moderately satisfactory.

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