Ghana needs procurement strategy - Experts

Two procurement experts have called on the government to come out with a sound procurement strategy for the country.

The experts- Collins Agyemang Sarpong, President of Ghana Institute of Procurement and Supply and Simon Annan, Ghana Deputy Chair, Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) Africa- made the call in an interview with the media on Thursday in Accra ahead of the maiden edition of the Procurement and Supply Chain Summit scheduled for August 2, 2016 at the National Theatre.

According to them, the Ghana Procurement Law, Act 663 passed 10 years ago as amended in 2016 Act 914 has been ineffective in ensuring that the state impress on corporate Ghana and government agencies, ministries and departments to procure their raw materials locally in order to promote the growth of the domestic economy through the reduction of the country’s import bill.

They warned sternly that for the state to industrialize, it should consider linking procurement to its industrialization agenda.

“If we want to industrialize and build the economy, we can’t do so without procurement,” according to Collins Agyemang Sarpong, President of Ghana Institute of Procurement and Supply.

“Procurement must be done locally to enable us build our local industry,” Simon Annan, Ghana Deputy Chair, Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) said, adding that “there is no local policy to promote local procurement.”

They argued vehemently that owing to the poor procurement policy in the country, deals like the AMERI and Karpower have been embroiled in scandals, leading to the lost of huge sums of money to the State.

About the summit

The lecture, scheduled for August 2, 2016 at the National Theatre, is believed to be the first of its kind in Ghana.

It is expected to positively project procurement practice in the country and link it to industrialization.