By: Kebba Ansu Manneh
Buah Saidy, Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG), has observed that an effective procurement process ensures the judicious, economical, and efficient use of public resources in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner.
Governor Saidy made this disclosure on Monday, August 12th, 2024, at the opening ceremony of the regional course on procurement strategy and contract management organized by the West Africa Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), which is currently ongoing at a local hotel in Banjul.
“Issues concerning procurement strategy have become more crucial in recent times due to the strategic importance of public procurement in achieving policy objectives, fostering economic growth, and ensuring sustainable development. An effective procurement process ensures the judicious, economical, and efficient use of public resources in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner,” Buah Saidy, GBG Governor, disclosed.
He added, “The procurement process and competitive bidding are major contributors to achieving value for money, which helps organizations maintain a competitive edge and drive better commercial deals. Thus, procurement sits at the heart of an organization’s strategic planning process.”
According to him, the overall procurement process must ensure compliance and product/service quality through contracts. ‘Contract management is the process of contract creation, execution, and analysis to maximize an organization’s operational and financial performance while reducing financial risk.’
He added that a procurement strategy grounded in contract management is conducive to an efficient procurement process. He highlighted that undue delays in meeting contractual obligations may lead to contractual default, potentially also affecting contractor cash flow and thus resulting in contract implementation delays and other complications.
“Effective contract management is therefore essential to delivering the intended project outcomes. Working alongside peers from Finance, Operations, Technology, procurement, and contract managers is key to delivering an organization’s corporate strategy,” Governor Saidy further observed.
He added: “The need for legal compliance is driving many organizations to upgrade their procurement and contract management systems. The consequences for any party’s failure to adhere to the procurement and contract terms and conditions are usually clear.”
Dr. Baba Y. Musa, Director General of WAIFEM, also underscored that as competition intensifies in the business environment, efficient and effective procurement of goods and services could make the difference between the success and failure of an organization, especially concerning managing costs, adding that procurement and contract management must be guided by procurement strategy and policy in other to achieve the desired effect.
WAIFEM Director General noted that procurement and contract managers need training and retraining to understand the essential requirements, as well as an appreciation of the procurement audit process, adding that irrespective of whether projects are implemented by private, public, or non-governmental organizations, there must be efficiency, value for money, and adherence to ethical commercial principles at the core of project execution.
According to him, the five days regional training that attracts officials of the Ministry of Finance and Central Banks of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, and The Gambia is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of procurement cycles from planning and tendering to contract administration and closure, adding that key topics such as introduction to procurement, procurement planning, tendering and bidding, technology in procurement, managing projects funded by development partners among others.
He commended the Central Bank of the Gambia for all its support of WAIFEM and called on the participants to take the training seriously.
