Locals take lion’s share of public tenders

TANZANIA: TANZANIAN firms secured the vast majority of public tenders issued via the National e-Procurement System of Tanzania (NeST) in the 2023/24 fiscal year, with data showing that 99.6 per cent of tenders were awarded to local businesses.

According to the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), a total of 62,267 contracts, valued at 10.2tri/-, were awarded through NeST.

The NeST system, which replaced the Tanzanian National e-Procurement System (TANePS), became operational on July 1, 2023, as part of a modernisation effort to enhance transparency and efficiency in public procurement.

This aligns with the government’s commitment, as outlined in the CCM’s 2020-2025 Election Manifesto, to enhance public procurement through digital technology.

PPRA’s Director General Dennis Simba noted that the new digital procurement system has established itself as a leading model within the East African region.

Breaking down the tenders awarded as per nationality, Mr Simba revealed that out of the 37,066 successful bidders, 36,989 were Tanzanian companies.

International bids were awarded to 28 Chinese companies, 21 Kenyan, 18 South African and 10 from the United Arab Emirates.

To further support local bidders, Public Procurement Act No. 10 of 2023 provides for partnerships between local and foreign bidders, stipulating that in such collaborations, the local company will lead the project and receive direct payment.

The law requires that contracts valued at 50bn/- or less are exclusively reserved for Tanzanian firms, and NeST assists the PPRA in enforcing these guidelines more effectively.

With approximately 70 per cent of the national budget allocated to procurement, significant projects in social and economic sectors—such as infrastructure development—are frequently awarded through the system.

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Highlighting other achievements, Mr Simba reported that the PPRA saved nearly 15bn/- through project inspections aimed at ensuring cost-effectiveness during implementation.

He added, “The NeST has simplified project tracking, enabling real-time monitoring.” From July 1, 2023, to October 8, 2024, NeST facilitated contract awards worth over 9.85bn/- to 210 groups.

These included 85 youth groups, which secured contracts valued at over 3.9bn/-, 84 women’s groups receiving contracts worth more than 4bn/- and two senior citizens’ groups awarded contracts totalling 78m/-.

“PPRA is taking legal measures against institutions that fail to use NeST for procurement, as mandated by the new Public Procurement Act of 2023.

Violations are considered criminal offences under the Act,” he stressed. Earlier, when detailing on the new procurement law, PPRA’s Coast Zone Manager Vicky Mollel said it was introduced to address several issues, including high prices for goods and services compared to market rates, lack of standard limits for tender approvals, the absence of supply-chain guidelines and inadequate contract management standards.

The new law introduces multiple provisions to address these challenges, including the national and exclusive preferences for local individuals or companies, inclusion of local companies and professionals in consultancy contracts, utilisation of local expertise in construction and non-consultancy service contracts as well as preferences for local products