Botswana's Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board (PPADB) has introduced e-bidding, dovetailed to the Integrated Procurement Management System (IPMS), to address corruption in government tenders.
The e-bidding rollout is part of the second phase of the PPADB's IPMS project, launched in 2013, to facilitate contractor registration nationally.
The IPMS now offers e-bidding, contractor registration, capacity building, asset disposal and dispute resolution.
Bridget John, Executive Chairperson of PPADB, said the system will ease the burden of customers travelling long distances to access PPADB's services from the country's capital Gaborone.
Authorities are confident that the online system will enhance transparency of tender processes because e-bidding will provide audit trails and bolster competition as more bidders have access to tender documents.
"Government is working tirelessly to improve the ease of doing business in the country and to promote e-Government services hence e-procurement which is part of the IPMS," said Solomon Sekwakwa, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.
He said a significant investment has already been made by government in the provision of ICT infrastructure, to ensure that there was adequate bandwidth to facilitate e-business.
"Bidders will be able to download online tenders for free and read them first to establish interest in responding to such tenders. It is only when bidders have read the tender documents and start working on responding to tenders that they will be required to pay the usual amount for tenders," Sekwakwa added.
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