The conference room of the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission was a scene of attraction on November 22, 2023 when the government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, officially signed the contract for the supply, installation, configuration, deployment and maintenance of an Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) System on Software as a Service (SAAS) Model.  The contract represents Phase One of the project whose value stands at Five Hundred Sixty-Three Thousand Five Hundred United States Dollars (US$ US$563,500.00).  

In 2022, the PPCC formally launched the procurement process for the establishment of an electronic procurement system. The process was followed to the letter and European Dynamics was selected by the Bid Evaluation Panel as the most responsive bidder to the qualification requirements set out in the E-GP Bid Document.  The Panel, therefore recommended European Dynamics for award of the e-GP contract on a phase approach. The first phase constitutes the development, installation, configuration and deployment of the system to six selected institutions of the Liberia Government.

Delivering a statement of appreciation during the signing ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission, Bodger Scott Johnson, said the introduction of the electronic procurement system is a milestone achievement in the fight against corruption in Liberia. He vowed to institute stronger measures to ensure compliance to the governing procurement laws and acceptability of the electronic procurement system.

He thanked the World Bank and African Development Bank for the immense financial and technical support towards the modernization of public procurement in Liberia.  

Also making remarks at the occasion was the Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Rebecca McGill who formally signed the contract on behalf of the Government of Liberia.  Minister McGill challenged the leadership of PPCC to keep focus and ensure that the objectives of e-Procurement project is achieved and that Liberia gets the much-anticipated benefits associated with the modernization efforts. She called on the development partners to maintain the level of support to the PPCC and help with the development drive of Liberia.

The World Bank’s Country Manager, Georgia Wallen and Mr. Daniel Osei from the African Development Bank, attended the ceremony and made separate remarks. Accordingly, Madam Wallen called on the leadership of the PPCC to remain vigilant and proactive during the entire development stage of the e-GP system. She emphasized that unless keen attention is paid to every detail of the modernization effort, Liberia stands the risk of losing out on the achievement of the overall objectives of the project.

Madam Wallen assures the PPCC and the Government of Liberia of her institution’s readiness to keep engaged with the PPCC by supporting initiatives that will bring the needed changes in the public procurement system of Liberia.   Madam Wallen assertions were corroborated by the Procurement Specialist from the African Development Bank (AFDB), Daniel Osei, who narrated the roles played by AfDB during the formative stage of the project. He said all preliminary activities leading to the establishment of the e-GP System were fully funded by the AFDB.

Mr. Osei named the development of E-GP Strategy, Business Process Reengineering (BPR), E-GP Technical Specification, E-GP Bid Document, and rounds of study tours as some of the preliminary activities that were funded by AFDB. He assured the PPCC and Government of Liberia of their unflinching commitment to the attainment of the objective of the public procurement modernization effort.