Since the introduction of the Public Procurement Act, Act 663 of 2003, which ushered in new structures, regulations and procedures for undertaking procurement activities in the Public Sector, it became apparent that the limited professional capacity of Procurement Practitioners would face a big challenge to successfully implement the Act.
The Public Procurement Authority (PPA) has embarked on various capacity building projects to improve the knowledge, skills and ability to perform varied procurement-related tasks of the Procurement Practitioners in the Public Sector. Most notable was the development of manuals and materials and nationwide delivery of short-term procurement training for all key public procurement stakeholders. The Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) in collaboration with the PPA have sought to engage consultants to develop curricula and modules for medium and long term training by Tertiary Institutions in Ghana.
MiDA and the Government of Ghana (GOG) issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in March 2009 for consultancy services for the project. Following the success of Crown Agents Ghana Limited's (CAGL) proposal in November 2008 and subsequent negotiations, a contract was signed on 18th March 2009 to develop Procurement Training.
CAGL's main assignment objectives were to:
- Develop curricula and modules for 3-6 month and 15-24 month, intensive training as well as Bachelors Degree level courses in Procurement reflecting the requisite mix of knowledge, skills and competencies necessary to undertake procurement tasks and responsibilities in the Ghanaian Procurement System;
- Ensure that the Private and Public Sectors in the country will continuously be provided with structured world-class training in procurement suitable for Ghana's Procurement System.
The assignment commenced on the 1st April 2009. The CAGL team has managed to complete the assignment within the project timeframe. The phases consisted of:
- The Inception phase: which led to the production of an Inception Report detailing an initial assessment of the assignment
- Training Needs Assessment (TNA) of the Public/Private Procurement System indicating the knowledge, competency and skill gaps within 30 days after acceptance of the Inception Report.
- Production of Draft Curricula and Modules in Procurement for structured training for the three categories of trainees identified in the Terms of Reference (TOR).
In October 2009 CAGL held a three day stakeholder workshop to obtain acceptance of the training modules and curricula from the key stakeholders and the tertiary institutions. Based on the comments and views of the stakeholders revised Modules and Curricula were produced, and followed by a Final Report providing a comprehensive summary of the whole assignment.