The COMESA region through the Enhancing Procurement Reforms and Capacity Programme (EPRCP) has recorded progress in their quest to have a region with modern and robust legislation and well trained personnel to work in the area of public procurement.

The EPRCP group is currently in Nairobi Kenya where staff, consultants and delegates are reviewing the training manuals which have been developed by the Uganda based International Law Institute (ILI). The delegates will also have the opportunity to review the systems architecture of the COMESA Procurement Information System (PROMIS) that is expected to support the upcoming regional procurement market. The review exercise is being held from 20th to 23rd November 2008 in Nairobi.

The training manuals will additionally be used by training institutions in the COMESA region for the purpose of training and equipping citizens on all matters dealing with public procurement. These manuals should enable the region to have a uniform system of training and in the end produce graduates and professional cadres who eventually should have the same understanding on procurement matters.

The training manuals have been developed over the past one year. These manuals are also expected to greatly help in capacity building of officers who are already working in public procurement in the different government offices.

Speaking at the reviewing meeting, COMESA Secretary General Mr Sindiso Ngwenya described public procurement as vital and an important catalyst to boosting COMESA intra-regional trade.

Mr Ngwenya, who was represented by Director of Information Technology and Networking at the COMESA Secretariat Mr Sherin Shoukry said public procurement is being introduced into the regional trade arrangements because of its strategic nature to trade.

“This project aims at consolidating public procurement reforms and harmonizing national procurement systems. It will support development of conducive legislation and provide technical assistance in the implementation of modern systems which ultimately should support COMESA intra-regional trade,”

“It will also strengthen the institutional and human resource capacities through training and assist countries upgrade the procurement information system to enable member States to also perform e-procurement activities,” Mr Ngwenya added.

The Director from the Directorate of Public Procurement Ministry of Finance in Kenya Ms Celestine Otunga also attended and officiated during the official opening.

Ms Otunga said the approach of COMESA toward procurement capacity building which focuses on creating the capacity of national training institutions to deliver certified procurement training to all relevant stakeholders in a sustainable manner is a welcome innovation.

After acknowledging the several challenges faced by the public procurement sector in the region, COMESA Heads of State and Governments adopted the COMESA Public Procurement Programme in 2001. This was in recognition that public procurement is critical for all member States because of its central role in the government’s efforts to promote socio-economic development.

In 2006, COMESA re-launched the Public Procurement programme after the earlier project, the Public Procurement Reform Project ended in 2003. The new project, the EPRCP is also financially supported by the African Development Bank and is based at the COMESA Secretariat in Lusaka.