NeST issues 40.4tri/- tenders

DODOMA: THE National e-Procurement System of Tanzania (NeST) has issued 397,395 tenders worth 40.4tri/- in three years, boosting transparency, efficiency and access in public procurement.

The system has also widened access for local suppliers, particularly women, youths and people with disabilities (PwDs), strengthening inclusive participation in government tenders.

The Director General of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), Dennis Simba, revealed the figures in Dodoma yesterday during a performance update.

Mr Simba said special groups had so far secured tenders worth 56bn/-, following opportunities created under the Public Procurement Act, which requires all public institutions to set aside 30 per cent of their procurement budgets for special groups, including youths, women, older persons and people with disabilities.

So far, a total of 27,946 special groups have been registered on the NeST system, including 13,317 youth groups, 13,400 women’s groups, 643 groups of older persons and 586 groups of people with disabilities.

He said PPRA was targeting approximately 300,000 special groups ready to apply for tenders, in line with the aspirations of the National Development Vision 2050.

“The initiative is part of the government’s efforts to create employment and business opportunities for Tanzanians who may not have the capacity to establish companies but can form groups and undertake tenders.

This is expected to have a ripple effect, creating up to three million jobs and employment opportunities,” he said.

Mr Simba said that as part of efforts to economically empower Tanzanians, a special group could secure a single tender worth up to 500m/-.

For tenders exceeding that amount, he said, local groups could enter into joint ventures with foreign companies, provided that Tanzanians take a leading role.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the President’s OfficeMinistry of Youth Development for agreeing to our request to collaborate on this initiative, through which we will visit all 184 councils across the country during this year’s Uhuru Torch Race,” he said.

Mr Simba added that since the introduction of NeST, the country had recorded significant achievements reflecting progress in public procurement, including improved compliance with procurement laws.

He said the use of the system had required procuring entities to follow established procedures throughout the procurement process, resulting in the compliance rate increasing from 65 per cent in 2023/24 to 76 per cent in 2024/25 and 79 per cent in 2025/26.

The NeST system, he said, had also eliminated the need to print more than 288.57 million pages of tender documents, saving approximately 27.64bn/-, while reducing costs and time for bidders and improving efficiency and environmental performance.

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Mr Simba added that a comprehensive study was underway to facilitate the registration of the NeST system in the carbon market, with its implementation expected to generate more than 20bn/- annually through carbon credit sales.

Meanwhile, between July 2023 and April 2026, PPRA conducted capacity-building programmes for 124,657 officials from procuring entities, more than 12,973 bidders and 11,891 participants from special groups.

“I would like to urge Tanzanians to seize these opportunities in public procurement so that we can contribute to nationbuilding and improve our economic well-being.

By participating actively in public procurement, we can make a significant contribution towards achieving the goals of the National Development Vision 2050 and attaining a fully-fledged middle-income economy,” he said.

For her part, the chairperson of the Kazi Iendelee Group, Ms Elizabeth Kasimila, said her group had secured tenders worth more than 2bn/- from ministries and other public institutions through NeST, helping to create more than 450 jobs for other Tanzanians.

She urged Tanzanians, particularly women, youths and people with disabilities, to register on the system to take advantage of available procurement opportunities.