Kampala, UGANDA: The National e-Procurement System of Tanzania, known as NeST, has advanced to the finals of the Innovation in Systems Awards competition, which is being held in Kampala, Uganda.
The competition organized by the African Association for Public Administration and Management (AAPAM) under the under the auspices of the African Union (AU), witnessed the emergence of NeST among the top 5 systems in Africa, following a presentation of the Director General of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), on November 25, 2024.
During presentation on NeST which was built exclusively by Tanzanian experts, Mr. Simba revealed how the system can be used to address numerous challenges in public procurement processes across Africa, citing how it enabled Tanzanian Government to save over USD 4.95 million.
ALSO READ: Embrace NeST or face music, govt warns
“As of October 2024, over 25,000 tenderers had registered on the system, and more than 30,000 procuring entities are using NeST to streamline public procurement processes and to ensure compliance with regulations,” he said adding that registered users has so far created 41,300 accounts, and NeST mobile app has been downloaded by over 30,000 users with impressive 4.3 star rating for ease of use.
Following the 45-minutes presentation, Mr. Simba who was accompanied by Mr. Michael Moshiro, the Director of Information and Communication Technology at PPRA and Dr. Magoti Harun, a procurement specialist, stressed that the success of NeST was a direct result of the visionary leadership of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who had directed the government to proritise the use of technology to address public procurement challenges.
The final round of the competition will take place on November 28, 2024, and a winner will be announced.
