‘Public procurement should foster inclusive growth’

PUBLIC procurement should incorporate everyone regardless of size in a bid to promote sustainable and inclusive growth across all sectors and entities.

Public Service Commission chairman, Dr Vincent Hungwe, said this yesterday at the ongoing two-day Public Procurement and Corporate Governance conference being hosted by the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Praz) in Bulawayo.

The event comes after the implementation of the Electronic Government Procurement launched by President Mnangagwa last year.

In his keynote address, Dr Hungwe said in fostering a robust procurement ecosystem, it is crucial to emphasise the principles of equality and equity.

“Public procurement should be a catalyst for inclusive growth, ensuring that opportunities are accessible to all, regardless of size or sector,” he said.

“Equity demands that we not only level the playing field but also provide support to disadvantaged groups, enabling them to compete fairly in the marketplace.

“Furthermore, beneficiaries of public procurement must actively engage in absorbing the wealth of talent being developed in our tertiary institutions.”

Dr Hungwe said by aligning procurement practices with the socio-economic imperative of nurturing local skills, they create a symbiotic relationship where functional efficiency is balanced with broader development goals.

This ensures that the procurement process drives immediate outcomes and contributes to long-term sustainable growth by supporting the next generation of professionals and entrepreneurs.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been calling for the Government to specifically set aside a percentage of public procurement tenders that can be given to them, saying this will assist them in growing as businesses by improving their capacity.

This has also seen the Government coming up with the SMEs formalisation strategy so that they can be able to work and supply public entities with goods and services.

Public procurement accounts for 20 to 25 percent of a country’s annual budget.

Dr Hungwe said as Government spending continues to be a significant portion of national economic activity, it is incumbent upon public entities to harness procurement as a driver of development.

He said strategic procurement that supports local industries, encourages innovation and fosters competition, can stimulate growth, create jobs and ultimately contribute to achieving national development aspirations, as articulated in Vision 2030.

“One key aspect of procurement driving this transformation is the integration of technology,” he said.

Praz chief executive officer, Mr Clever Ruswa, said the conference will give the accounting offers in different public entities an opportunity to air different issues affecting them, which assist them in considering key procurement issues when doing their 2025 financial year planning.

“We all know that procurement is at the core of everything that we do and we also want to leverage procurement to use it as a stabiliser in terms of pricing in this nation,” said Mr Ruswa. — @SikhulekelaniM1