Online tendering and evaluation for public procurement in Tanzania

Abstract

Public Procurement in Tanzania is a very ineffective exercise leading to inflated costs, corruption and delays in completion of Public Projects. Public procurement has a huge potential to stimulate the economy by providing opportunities to Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's), if done correctly. The major bottleneck in the current procurement process is inefficient tendering and selection of bids. Tanzania still doesn't have a fully operational e-procurement platform. This paper analyses how Innovation can be used in Public Procurement to ensure true fairness, competitiveness, transparency and value for money in public projects. Technology is a powerful tool to influence business culture. This paper describes the overall Procurement Management practices used in Tanzania, the challenges, how the procurement process affects public projects (i.e. Time and Cost), how e-evaluation as a component of e-procurement can reduce Time and Cost of Public Projects and Finally the Project Plan and scope for the implementation of an efficient e-tendering system.