Ethiopia to Implement Electronics Government Procurement System

Addis Ababa May 18/2018 Federal Government Procurement and Property Administration Agency announced that it has finalized preparations to start electronics procurement system technology (e-GP).  In an Exclusive interview with ENA Acting General- Director of the Agency, Jonse Gedefa said that the agency has been running the e-GP technology system project that would help to clear the government procurement activities from human error and misappropriation. “The technology is aimed at transforming the national procurement system including procurement plan, bid system and evaluation from the manual to electronics system. That would help to access information, enhancing transparency and to establish standardized bid document” he explained. According to him, the system will also help to enhance public engagement, accessing enough value goods and services for the expended money. He added that the project was started two years ago and preparations have been finalized including recruitment of system manager and establishment of coordination committee from selected federal offices such as National Bank of Ethiopia and National Intelligence and Security Service are finalized to operate the system. Six federal government offices are also selected for operating the pilot e-GP project and Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation, Federal Road Authority and Pharmaceutical Fund and Supply Agency are among the selected offices. The acting Director-General also noted that the agency has been underway various improving activities by developing capacity building strategy. Finance and Economic Cooperation State Minister, Lelaalem Gebre Yohannis said on her part that the e-GP system is vital to enhance accountable and transparent finance administration system. “It helps to improve our service delivery, time management and to expend our limited resource for the targeted objectives,” she added. According to the State Minister, the e-GP system will support in addressing the challenges of rent seeking, good governance and resource misuse through improving service delivery and public participation. The Federal Government Procurement and Property Administration Agency also planned to expand its procurement capacity and include other sectors, it was learned. Ethiopia is implementing various public financial management initiatives such as Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS), Integrated Budget and Expenditure System (IBEX) and Electronic Government Procurement System (e-GP), to build one of the model African countries in PFM.